A Change in Perspective
by CanEvenCookEgg
Summary: One day, a group of four boys decided to watch RWBY. Through less than ideal circumstances, they find themselves in the world of Remnant. Now, they must find out why they were really sent there, unravel the mystery of the two beings that sent them, and most importantly, find out why Kalameet seemed so familiar to Devin. DISCONTINUED.
1. The Struggles of a Friday Afternoon

**AUTHOR NOTES:**

 **Well this is my first fanfiction so any advice or criticism would be much appreciated. Also, this story will mostly follow the cannon events, but will stray off for side events for my OCs. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy my story.**

 **Disclaimer: I, in no way, shape, or form; own the rights to RWBY or any mentioned anime/games. The rights to RWBY belongs Monty Oum, Rooster Teeth, and any anime/games belong to their respective owners**

 **A Change in Perspective**

 **Chapter 1: The Struggles of a Friday Afternoon**

We find ourselves in a brightly lit room with green walls. In the room are posters of cars, and collectible cars line one side of the room. In the room we find four figures sitting at a table. What could they be doing? Let's listen in and see what we can find out.

"And so I said. 'I know you don't need to tell me four times,' but she kept on fucking talking anyway," said someone. This person had the build of a slightly chubby man of about five feet and eleven inches tall. He had brown hair and brown eyes. "James, you need to stop getting yelled at next to me. It's really annoying to hear that banshee scream," said another figure on the left to the first. This person was even rounder than the first. It had the face of a man and was about five feet and nine inches tall. He had brown hair and grey eyes. "What the fuck ever Devin, I'll do what I want my dude," said James.

"C'mon guys, were supposed to be having fun not talking about school right Steven?" asked the figure on the right of James. He was about five foot seven inches tall and had an average build. His hair was light brown and his eyes were green. "Yeah Marks right guys. Let's not talk about school. It's Friday night and it's time to have fun!" said the figure on left of Mark. He was quite fat and his hair was a mix of light brown and red, and had blue eyes. He was about five feet and eight inches tall.

The room they were in had only a few objects in it. It had a bed, that was neatly made, a table, which the boys were sat at, and a television and gaming system on an entertainment stand. There was also a dresser that had a few doors in it, one window, and two bowls on the floor. One full of water and the other cat food.

"Alright Mark, that's fine and all but what the fuck are we going to do for the rest of the night?" asked James. "It's only six o'clock and we're already bored. We have been playing games since school got out, and I'd rather not sit here with my thumb up my ass and do nothing," James said, pointing to the controllers they were using prior to the conversation.

"Well we could go and play some football," suggested Steven. Looking out the window, the group could see a sizable patch of grass that looked well taken care of. Next to the grass was a stretch of gravel that led to a road. "I don't want to fucking go outside to play some game on a weekend. If I wanted to do work, I'd go to my dad's farm and work with him," said James, while waving his hands to emphasize his point.

"Oh hell yeah man I know exactly what we should do. We can watch RWBY. You know that internet anime that I've been talking to you guys about," said Devin, while wearing a small grin on his face. "Well, that beats going outside and getting sweaty for no reason," said James, while glaring at Steven with no real heat in his eyes. "Yeah that's fine with me. What about you Mark?" asked Steven. "I'm cool with whatever," said Mark.

"Alright, let's get started," Devin said, as he got up to get his phone to show them. "This show is really good. I can't wai-!" he said, before he was cut off as he fell over, asleep. The other three boys tried to wake him up, but in seconds they too began to feel tired. Soon all four boys were asleep, but something began to happen.

Their bodies began to disintegrate, like dust in the wind. In a matter of seconds nothing was left of them. No trace that they were even there to begin with.

LINE BREAK

"Ugh. What? What happened? Where am I?" asked Devin. He looked left and right, and saw his friends slumped on what looked to be pure white tiles. He ran over to them and shook them. "Hey guys! Are you guys OK? Come on don't be hurt please," He said, in slight concern. What if they were hurt? He didn't know how to deal with that.

"Don't be such a bitch Devin, Jesus," said James. "Oh good, I'm glad you are OK!" said Devin as he smiled slightly in relief, though it didn't meet his eyes.. It was weird to see him show so much emotion. He was usually lethargic and was not motivated to do anything. The other two boys woke up after James in varying states of unrest. Eventually they all were up and had to decide what to do next.

"I say we walk forward and see what we can find," said Seven. "I think we should just stay here and wait," said Mark. "Who knows what could be up there." All three of his friends looked at him like he was crazy. "What good would sitting here like a log when we could just walk forward and explore?" asked Devin. "There is no use staying where we are and the best thing we can do is to get our bearings."

"Alright, fine. But if we die, I'm blaming you Devin, ya hear!" said Mark, while pointing a shaking finger at Devin. And so they walked forward to see what this new place might bring.

White. That was the only way to describe what they saw. They walked down the hallway and only saw white. There was never any change in what they saw, nor could they even hear their own footsteps. They might have walked for hours, or for minutes. There was no way to tell, so they just walked.

Eventually though, all things must come to an end, so they all come to a stop but James is yelling at the ground.

"When are we going to find something new, dammit!" James yelled at the floor in frustration and exhaustion. "Umm, James? Look up." James looked up from the floor and saw a massive door. "Oh," said James. "I guess right now," quipped Steven.

"So do we just knock now, or do we try to open it?" asked Mark. The door was over ten feet tall and was made of the lightest wood any of them had ever seen. It was engraved with beautiful carvings and curves that just looked mesmerizing. Its edges were covered in a thin layer of gold. It looked like it belonged to a king.

"I say we kick it in and see if we can get some goddamn answers!" James yelled out in anger. "Yeah, I agree with James. I'd like to go home," said Devin.

So they all moved up against the door and pushed as hard as they could until an opening just big enough for them opened. They walked in and were immediately dumbfounded. The room was at least as tall as a skyscraper, and it was a mix of brilliant gold and white. It was almost blinding to look at.

In the room were two plain thrones. One was pure white and the other was pure black. They each had gold swirls engraved into them and were almost one hundred feet tall. But that wasn't what had the silenced.

No, what had them silenced was the figures sat in the thrones. Each were about two hundred feet tall, and were opposites. The one sitting in the black throne was a dirty white that looked like a linen sheet had been staged through the dirt. The other was a dull black almost grey. It was as if someone had tried to erase something, but didn't quite get the job done.

" _ **SO, YOU HAVE ARRIVED,"**_ said the figure in white with a booming voice that seemed to come from all directions at once. _ **"WE HAVE SOMETHING WE MUST DISCUSS HUMANS**_ ," it said while looking down at them. _**"LET US SEE IF YOU ARE WORTHY OF LEAVING HERE ALIVE!"**_

The group of four were in awe of the figures until James said something. "Wait, what the fuck do you mean by leaving here alive? Fuck this I'm outta here!" he yelled before the doors were slammed closed with a resounding boom they reverberated throughout the room and shook the group's bones.

" _ **I'm sorry, but you cannot leave until we ask you a few questions,"**_ said the black figure, with as voice as smooth as silk, and just as soft on the ears. The voice was comforting in a way the four could not comprehend, just that it made them feel at peace, and safe.

"What do you mean? Why can't we leave here? And what is here?" asked Devin, slightly scared of being in the presence of such titanic beings.

" _ **Here, let us come down to your level,"**_ said the figure in the white throne as it and the black figure shrunk to normal human size. Their colors and general shape didn't change, but now they had eyes and a mouth made made of colors. The white figure had eyes and mouth the color of blood, and it looked down on them with its eyes narrowed.

The black one had midnight blue for the color of its eyes and mouth and they got the feeling it was looking at them with sorrow and care. It reminded Devin of something, but the memory was fleeting, and he couldn't grasp it fully.

" _We must speak with you about a few things,"_ said the black being. It raised its left arm to its chest and said, _"My name is Kalameet, a pleasure to meet you,"_ Kalameet said. It then moved its left hand towards the white being, _"and this is Jundo. We are the guardians of this world."_

The group look on awestruck as they could barely comprehend how these beings could not only change shape, but act as if this was normal for them. It was crazy, insanity even.

"What are we here for and why can't we leave?" asked Steven. He tried to act brave, but in his eyes, you could see how truly scared he was. But he wanted to be brave for his friends so they wouldn't be as scared. And it worked. The others stood a little straighter, and their eyes shown with a little more determination than before, though Devin's remained dull. They were slowly gaining their confidence back in the presence of these beings.

" _ **WE ARE THE GUARDIANS OF REMNANT. WE HAVE NOTICED A SPIKE IN GRIMM ACTIVITY AND NUMBERS. THAT IS NOT A NEW OCCURRENCE BUT THE CURIOUS THING IS THAT THE INHABITANTS HERE HAVE NOT BEEN FEELING ANY MORE NEGATIVE EMOTIONS THAN NORMAL. THE GRIMM SHOULD NOT BE MULTIPLYING AS MUCH AS THEY ARE,"**_ said Jundo. It looked at them to see if they were comprehending what it was saying.

"What the fuck are Grimm?" asked James? _**"GRIMM ARE-"**_ began Jundo, before it was cut off by Devin. "Grimm are a creature that exist in Remnant. I don't know how they're made or why, but I know they are attracted to negative emotions and death. They exist purely to tear down everything that humanity has created. Isn't that right Kalameet, Jundo?" asked Devin.

" _That is correct Devin,"_ said Kalameet. _"Therefore, we have called you here, to see if you are willing to help is defeat the Grimm."_

"Wait, how do you know Devin, and Devin, how do you know what Grimm are?" Mark asked with a panicked voice. He fidgeted in place when all eyes in the room went to him. "Yeah how the hell do you know about this shit Devin?" James asked, though he clearly was demanding an answer.

"I know about the Grimm because they-," he stopped himself. The others would think he was crazy, but when he looked to the guardians, he got a commanding grunt from Jundo, and a caring smile from Kalameet. "I know," he repeated, "because they appear in the show RWBY." Then all hell broke loose.

"That's bullshit and you know it Devin," yelled James. "There isn't any way that some damn show is real!" James' face was red from yelling, but he looked like he was trying to convince himself more than anyone else. After all, if giant walking lights existed, then who was he to call something else crazy.

" _ **HE SPEAKS THE TRUTH HUMAN. THE WORLD OF REMNANT IS PARALLEL TO YOURS, AND THEREFORE IT IS POSSIBLE THAT IDEAS FROM THIS UNIVERSE TRICKLED DOWN INTO YOURS."**_ spoke Jundo.

"Well that explains how Devin knows about Grimm, but how do you know about us?" Steven asked, weary of the answer he might receive. He looked down, afraid he might be hurt or killed by the figures.

" _We know everything about you. All of you hopes and dreams, and your nightmares."_ Kalameet explained as plainly as it could. _"We know every hardship you have gone through and all the pain you've been caused. Especially you, Devin. It's terrible what happen-"_

" **SHUT UP!"** Devin yelled as his grey eyes took on the color of a newly made blade, and his tongue was just as sharp. "You know nothing about me! What I've been through! What I've felt! What I think!" Devin ranted and yelled as he felt a burning anger swell through him, and he felt powerful. The sensation was new to him, yet felt natural, so he continued to ride his high. "You don't know what I've dealt with so just shut up," and just as quick as it began, the power left him. He felt weak, his arms and legs heavy. He could only feel exhaustion, his anger leaving him as he no longer had the energy to support it.

"Woah Devin, holy shit! What the fuck was that?" James asked with concern, and none of his usual sarcasm. "Yeah Devin, you gonna be able to stand?" asked Steven as he knelt by his side.

"Yeah guys," he said, and he seemed to believe it. He had a strange look in his eye, like a scientist discovering a new species. "I'm going to be alright. Just some bad memories." The rest of the group had never seen that side of him, never seen him that emotional. He almost never showed any more than a simple scrunching of his eyebrows, or an upturning of his lip. What could have happened that made him react that way?

" _ **YOUR PAST MATTERS NOT. IF YOU WANT TO LEAVE HERE HOWEVER, YOU MUST GET UP AND ANSWER OUR QUESTION NOW!"**_ said Jundo. It moved closer to the group of four. They looked at Jundo and Devin got up as he said, "Ask away, we're ready," getting a chorus of approvals from the other three.

" _ **FINE THEN. MY ONLY QUESTION. IF I WERE TO GIVE YOU POWER, HOW WOULD YOU USE IT?"**_

"What do you mean, power?" asked Mark. He looked at Jundo with a pensive questioning stare that just screamed curiosity and the want to learn.

" _ **IF YOU WERE TO HAVE SUPER POWERS, HOW WOULD YOU USE THEM?"**_

"Well, I'd help people I guess," Mark replied. This was not an answer he gave as an expected response. No, he truly believes that he would help people with a power and his eyes burned with a soft determination. He would be a shield to anyone he cared for. He would risk life and limb to make sure they were safe and secure!

The other three agreed with him, though James said that he would, "help people in his spare time." That seemed to satisfy Jundo as he moved back and motioned for Kalameet to move forward.

" _I have two questions."_ said Kalameet. "Well ask away my dude, times a burnin'," said James, his voice thick with his trademark sarcasm as he opened his arms. "I'm an open book."

" _Quite. Now, what powers do you want, and what weapon."_

"Wait WHAT?" screamed Steven, as he looked at Kalameet as if it was crazy. "What do you mean?"

" _Well,"_ Kalameet began, _"we were hoping you would help Remnant and become heroes and help push back the dark threat of Grimm."_

"We will!" Devin said. Devin started moving towards the beings until James grabbed him and started yelling. "You can't just wake decisions for the rest of us you shitbag! What if we don't want to go, huh?"

" _ **IF YOU ARE WORRIED ABOUT YOUR WORLD, I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT YOU NEEDN'T WORRY. TIME HERE WILL STOP FOR YOU AS SOON AS YOU GO TO REMNANT. YOU WILL NOT MISS ANYTHING,"**_ Jundo said, though he didn't sound like he cared whether we accepted the proposal or not.

"See guys, nothing to lose," Devin said blankly, though he did have a larger smile than normal. He seemed happy to be given a chance to go to the place that he said had given him escape from the real world so many times. Yet again, Devin was acting strange. First anger, now obvious excitement, why was he this way now? Could this place really be that good?

"Well, what could it hurt to go?" replied Mark. He excited to go. A place where he could be a hero and have powers! Sounded like a dream come true to Mark. "Besides it'll help keep my mind off, her," he said, instantly deflating a small amount as he sighed. Mark seemed to age a few years as he said this.

"C'mon man, stop being a downer. You need to get over her. This'll be like a vacation for us," Steven said, trying to help cheer up his friend. Mark was always the one with an optimistic outlook, so to see him like this just wasn't right.

"Fine, whatever. But if I get a shit deal out of this, I'm going to be fucking livid," James said as he resigned to going with his friends.

" _So, I ask again,"_ said Kalameet as it repeated itself _, "What powers do you want and what weapon will you choose?"_

"OOOH! I'm gonna go first. I'll choose regeneration and I'll go with a katana," Mark explained. He was so excited! He would be just like a samurai, he would save the day like a hero, he would- "What kind of gun will it be?" asked Devin.

"What? What kind of gun? What does that even mean?" Mark asked in rapid fire succession. "Well, in RWBY, every weapon is also a gun, well except for Jaune, but that doesn't really matter right now," Devin explained to the group, though he did whisper about Jaune, saying that he should have at least had a side arm, and that it was dumb to think swinging a sword wildly would help anyone. "That way, you have a firearm and a melee weapon on you no matter what, and it also allows you to be more versatile without carrying more things."

"Well then in that case, I'll go with a katana that can change into an assault rifle."

" _If that is your choice, so be it. Here is your weapon. You must also name it to make it truly yours."_ But Mark had zoned out as soon as Kalameet finished saying weapon, a flash of gold was emitted in front of him, and from the flash floated a sheathed wakizashi. The sheath was a brilliant bright blue that shined like ocean waves.

When he pulled the blade from the sheath he saw that the blade was perfect. The handle was wrapped in a beautiful black cloth that crisscrossed up to the guard. The guard was a deep black that was as deep as midnight. The blade itself was a deep starry black that seemed to almost reflect the night sky. The blade was three and a half feet long.

When he put the blade back, he touched a button on the sheath and it sprung to life, whirring and moving, until he held an excalibur rifle. It was a mix of light blue and dark black and it fit perfectly in Mark's hands.

Next was James' turn. "I want teleportation and a deagle knife." In the same flash of gold a deagle 44 was in front of James. It was purple and in the barrel had a decal of something dripping. He looked until he found a button the bottom of the handle and pushed it. It changed into a switch blade whose blade was eight inches, purple, and had a little opening in the tip. The handle was an almost black purple that just screamed toxic. Overall, he was very happy.

After James was Steven. "If you could please, I think telekinesis would be cool, also as a weapon I would want a shotgun halberd." In the now customary flash of gold, there was a six-foot halberd in front of him. The blade was an aggressive blood red while the handle was a more reserved cherry red that was wrapped in the last foot in white cloth that was meant as a handle. He pushed a switch above the wrapping and it shifted into a single barrel shotgun. The barrel was a blood red and the handle, and the same cherry. He was just as ecstatic as the others about his weapon.

Lastly, was Devin. He thought long and hard while the others were choosing and he knew what he wanted. "I really don't need a semblance, I just need aura to keep up with the others. For my weapon, I want a pair of ninjato that turn into pistols."

In a flash of gold light, two ninjato were floating in front of Devin. They were in dark black sheathes. He took one from its home and examined it. It blade was a gunmetal gray that had only one remarkable feature, that being a small engraving at the top. It had what seemed to be kanji, the writing looked like this "保護すること." When he unsheathed the other, it had a similar engraving, though this one said, "その人が出血." The handles were wrapped in a pure white cloth that left no surface open. They were both about two feet long.

When he pressed a button on the top of the guard, the changed into double 357 magnums. The barrels were grey and the handles were white.

"These are perfect," Devin said, his companions nodding and agreeing with him. They were still in awe of the amazing weapons they had.

" _We are glad you like them,"_ said Kalameet. _"Now it is time for you to go. And for what it is worth, I am sorry for this."_

"What the fuck do you mean?" James asked before he felt an excruciating pain all over his body, as did the whole group. They doubled over and tried to make the pain stop but it persisted. Before they lost consciousness from the pain, they all heard one last thing, _**"HAHAHAHAHA! THIS SHOULD BE INTERESTING TO WATCH!"**_

 **Ending Notes:**

 **OK guys, so let me know what you think about the story, and anyway I could improve my writing. Unfortunately, I still go to school, so uploads will most likely be anywhere from biweekly to monthly. I'll try to get the chapters out as fast as I can, but I won't promise anything.**


	2. Confusion and Displacement

**AUTHOR NOTES:**

 **Well, here I am, back with another chapter. Let's hope this is better than the first. As always, I would love to hear what you think I could improve, so leave a comment to express your opinions.**

 **And here are the responses to the reviews:**

 **ComradeTrick: Thank you for giving some of your time to give me feedback. To respond to your points 1. I realize that I had a lot of dialogue in the first chapter, and very little descriptions. I'm hoping that changes in this story just enough, and I didn't overcompensate. 2. I tried to make the conversations more dynamic and lively. And for why Devin got over his anger so quickly, keep reading. 3. Ughh I realized as soon as I published the story the mistakes. I have gotten a beta, so hopefully this goes better now.**

 **Disclaimer: See chapter 1**

 **A Change in Perspective**

 **Chapter 2: Confusion and Displacement**

"Ughh," I said as I woke up. "What happened?" I asked myself. I looked around to see I was in a forest. The trees looked incredibly tall, and thick. Their leaves reaching high into the air, and were as green as emeralds. It was so pretty.

"Nghh, why do my eyes hurt?" The beauty of the forest was forgotten as I grabbed at my eyes, and a blinding pain went through them. It felt as though lava was poured onto them. I couldn't see. What was happening? Why was I hurting so much?

I fell backwards, my back hitting what I could only assume was a tree. I kept rubbing at my eyes, hoping for the pain to stop, which it thankfully did after a few minutes. I had never felt this much pain before. What had happened to me?

That was when the memories of that hallway, the room, and the two beings that did something to us. Was I really in the world of Remnant? I looked around again, and still only saw trees. I started to move so I could get a better idea of where I was when I heard a groan to my left.

I quickly got to my feet and looked to where I heard the noise, and found a slumped figure. It had clothes on, so I could only assume it was human. The clothes were a mix of purple and black. It had on a black unbuttoned overcoat, with the hood up, a dark purple undershirt, what looked to be a black scarf, some dark purple pants that slowly turned to black, black shoes, and black gloves. The gloves seemed to be leather.

I cautiously approached the figure and got a better look at it. It looked to be in pain, as it wiggled and squirmed. I moved quickly to its side as I moved the head to look at it, and saw that it was James. He looked thin, and seemed to be cooler than normal. His hair was now a deep black and was made of spikes that almost covered his left eye, and his skin was much paler than it had been the last time I saw him.

As I started to shake him to see if he was ok, he woke up. His now violet eyes were unfocused, and he looked to be more confused than in pain. His eyes focused on me, and the fact that I was barely a foot away from his face, shaking him. "Uhhh, I didn't know that you swung that way Devin, but at least buy me some fuckin' dinner first," he said as he popped his neck.

"Whatever," I said. "That is the last time I care about whether you're alive." I looked around us to see if anyone else was around us, but I didn't see Mark or Steven. There was no one else in sight. We needed to find them. I slowly got up as James stood and moved around to release some tension in his no doubt stiff joints. He seemed to have also grown a few inches, now standing over six foot tall.

"James, we need to get moving to find the others and see where we are, alright?" I asked, expecting him to say yes. He may not give half a shit about just about anyone, but if you got into his very tight inner circle, he gave a full one. "Yeah, let's get going. I want to find a bed to lay on because I'm tired as shit, my dude," he said while looking at me. His eyes widened when he fully looked at me and seemed astonished by something.

"Dude, did you lose like forty pounds? And what's with your clothes?" he asked, seemingly just now noticing something that even I wasn't aware of. I looked down, and sure enough, I was way thinner. I rolled up the sleeves of my jacket, which I just now realized was grey, and saw that my arms were more muscular than they were Friday. Also, my skin was darker than it should have been. What was happening to us?

I looked further down to see that I was wearing a pair of very dark grey pants that just seemed bland. I frowned. I flexed my arms. They felt more powerful, but also as if there was something missing, like a puzzle that fit together perfectly, but had an extra piece.

I left the thoughts alone as I saw what looked like handles poking out from either side of my pants. They were swords. I pulled one from its sheath, and examined it. It was the same sword that I had asked for from Kalameet. It was a beautiful grey ninjato. The tip of it was a sharp straight edge, cut off at a forty-five degree angle. I still had no idea what the writing on the blade meant, but it was perfect to me.

I saw James looking at me strangely, and spotted, at his hamstring, a holster, with something purple peeking out. I pointed to his leg and said, "Well you've got one too, so don't let me stop you from looking at it."

He looked at his right leg and saw it. He pulled it out and looked it over. After a minute, he put it back and moved over to me. "Let's get going, ok? I'd like to know where we are, so lead the way." I looked at him questioningly, silently asking him why I was the leader. "Well since you apparently know this place, you get to lead." I guess that made sense, so I stood in front and started moving forward. "Let's see if we can find Mark or Steven, and then locate where we are," I said as I moved.

We both walked in relative silence, the only sounds were the crunching of our feet, and the ambient noises of the forest. We both knew the seriousness of the situation, although that didn't stop me from slouching and shoving my hands into the pockets of my pants and walking like I usually did. We didn't talk as there was nothing to converse about.

We walked for about fifty minutes, before we heard noises ahead. The noises sounded like people, but before James could walk up there and see who it was, I grabbed his arm and put a finger to my lips. I crouched and he followed my lead. We slowly stalked forward until we could just make out the words that were being said.

"I'm just saying that looking for them isn't a promising idea. We have no idea what is out here," someone said, clearly a male. "Yeah, but what if they are hurt, we should look," said another, also male. This was enough to make me consider them to be our friends. Just to be safe though, I had both of us take out our weapons and see who it was. My weapon felt weird in my hands, like it belonged there, but I didn't know how to use it, nor had I ever lifted a sword before. I looked at James, and he seemed better off than me. He was, at least, able to hold his gun steady and point it forward.

We both moved and pointed our respective weapons at the voices and looked at who they were. There was a clearing in front of us. In it was Mark and Steven, though they seemed to have been given a full cosmetic, change just like us.

Mark was a few inches taller, now standing at a respectable five feet ten inches. His hair was still a brown color, and his eyes were still green. He was wearing a black long sleeve shirt with blue accents and black pants. His shoes appeared to be combat boots that were a very dark blue color. He also had on what seemed to be a light blue one arm backpack.

Steven, meanwhile had on a red t-shirt and over that was a brown jacket. He also had on dark red pants. He had a pair of black rimmed glasses hanging from his neck. He also seemed to have trimmed quite a few pounds and now stood at five feet nine inches. His hair was now smooth and a light red and was longer, now about at his neck. His eyes had changed to a lighter blue color.

They each also had their own weapons. Mark's was at his left hip, and hung loosely, a few inches from the ground. Steven's was at his right hip, but seemed to be more of a hatchet now than a halberd.

They noticed us after a minute of me taking in their appearances and both moved towards us and looked at us with shocked faces. They moved towards us slowly, as if we might disappear and be a mirage. When they reached us, Mark let out a sigh. Tension leaves his shoulders and he smiled. "It's good to see you guys. You'll never believe how long we waited for you," he said as he gave James and I fist bumps. Steven just said he was glad that we were here and that we could now be a group again.

We all sat down in the clearing and started to talk. I thought of what to do next, and looked at Mark's backpack again and decided to ask about that. "What is that pack on you for Mark?" Mark looked confused, before he seemed to remember he had it.

"I have no idea what's in it, or how I got it. I guess we should see the huh?" He asked us. I took it from him, it felt quite heavy, I noticed, and unzipped it. Inside it was a computer, four different phones, a solar panel attached to a cord, a few lighters, two pairs of headphones, a small speaker, and a note.

The phones were our personal ones, so we each took our own. Next, was the computer. I tried to start it, but the battery seemed to be dead. Then I looked at the solar panel, and saw the cord would fit our phones and computer, as it had two different ends. We decided that Mark and I would get the headphones, and James would get the speaker. The lighters were set aside as we looked at the note. It had only one word on it.

 **SURVIVE**

After that charming note, we all sat down and started to talk.

"So," I said, taking a second to yawn, "I see you guys got the Weight Watchers treatment too, huh." I looked at them with half lidded eyes. Walking had made me tired, though I guess it could be worse. At least I wasn't running the mile in gym class. I can still remember the burning sensation in my legs. It may or may not have taken me twenty minutes run the mile.

"Yeah, I don't know how this happened, but I'm happy," replied Mark with a smile. A twinkle appeared in his eyes as he continued. "Not only did I get a cool weapon, but now I'm taller than Steven!" He smiled triumphantly while looking towards said boy.

"Whatever, I'm still stronger than you. You can't take that from me Mark," Steven declared as he jumped to his feet and pumped his fist into the air. He fell back down on his backside as he laughed. Mark and James joined him while I kept on staring at them, a blank look on my face. The laughter soon calmed down and we all sat in a circle again.

"Well now that we've found each other, what do we do now?" asked Steven. He looked towards each of us, waiting for an answer. "I don't know, ask Devin. I've been following his dumb ass since I woke up," replied James, pointing at me. My eyes widened slightly, before returning to normal. So, he wanted me to lead. Makes sense, as I might know where we are. "Well then Devin, where should we go?" Mark asked, looking at me expectantly.

I sighed loudly as I got up. Why did I have to be leader? Oh well, as soon as we found a place to stay, I'm sleeping for an entire day. The pain in my eyes and the walking had made me tired. "Alright, so I guess we'll just continue to walk forward. That hasn't led us astray yet," I said as I started to put the computer and other items back into the bag. Once that was done, we all started walking, only the sound of the forest and our shoes to greet our ears.

We walked for about an hour in silence before Steven broke it. "So, what can you tell us about this world Devin? What's so great about it?" He looked around, only seeing trees all around us. "Yeah," James said. "If this is all there is, then it's a fucking disappointment." He had a scowl on his face as he walked. He wasn't a huge fan of the outdoors. He would spend most of his time either playing video games, or hanging out with us.

"Don't worry," I said. "There's definitely more to this place than trees." I looked around us, and to the left, quite a way off, I saw some light breaking through some tall bushes. "Alright, let's go towards the left, to the light," I said, pointing to the bushes. The others looked at me like I was crazy.

"Uhh, Devin, there is no light to the left. It's just the same trees," Mark said, looking towards the direction I pointed. "Yeah, you idiot. Are you seeing shit? The last thing I need is my guide tripping balls," James said. How could they not see It? It was only a few hundred feet off at most. "Whatever, you guys need to get your eyes checked when we find civilization," I commented as I lead us to the light. It took longer than I thought it would to get there, but as we got closer, they began to see it.

"How did you see this from that far back? I can only just now make it out," Steven asked as he pointed to the light. "Yeah Devin, how did you see that?" Mark asked, looking at me strangely. What were they talking about? It was plain as day this whole time. "Maybe you do need glasses guys. It's not like it popped up out of nowhere," I said as we got closer.

When we reached the bushes, I went through first and saw some stone ruins with pedestals on it. It was in a clearing surrounded by the same trees we had just walked through. "Devin, what do you see?" James asked. I looked back at them and said, "Players and pieces, players and pieces." I walked closer to the ruins as I heard James ask what players and pieces had to do with anything.

They got up and followed me. We all stood in front of the ruins. "This is where it truly started," I thought to myself, "This is where their story began." I turned around to look at them. Mark and Steven had looks of amazement while gazing at the ruins. After all, it's not every day you see some ancient looking ruin. I pointed to the structure and began to explain what it was.

"This is where the eight main characters, though four of them might not be counted as so, began their journey through the show. Right here is where teams were decided. A pair of hopeful students would grab a chess piece from a pedestal and take it back to Beacon, the school they were trying to get into." I paused to make sure they were following along. No one seemed to be lost so I continued.

"From here, if you look to the left, you'll see the same trees we've been seeing all day now." James looked at me like I was dumb "OK, but what do trees have to do with anything?" He asked. "Well," I began, "when they all get here, a Deathstalker ends up chasing them, and breaking a few trees in that direction. As you can see, the trees are all intact. That means that the new term at beacon hasn't started yet, and that in turn means that we have a little bit of time to prepare for the start of the series." We talked a little longer and they asked some questions. Explaining what a Deathstalker was proved to be easier than I had thought. I also asked Steven why his weapon was shorter, though he didn't know.

After we had finished talking, I turned around, walked away, and the others followed me. We walked to the middle of the clearing, and I announced my plan. "Alright, we need to find a place to stay. We'll go to the right, and try to find a cave or something similar that we can spend the night in."

We started moving and eventually came to a sheer rock cliff. We moved to the left of it, until I spotted an opening in the rock. Once again, when I pointed it out, no one could see it, but this time they believed me. We kept going until we reached it. The opening led to a small natural path in the forest. Lining the path were plants that I recognized as mint leaves. I knew this because one of my hobbies back on Earth was cooking. Thinking about home didn't make me sad, because there wasn't much left there for me.

Before I could go deeper down that train of thought, Mark stepped into the cave, and started to look in it. We all followed him as I looked for any scratches or markings that would indicate something living here. When I was satisfied that there was none, I moved to where the others were on the ground. I sat down and proceeded what had happened so far.

We got taken away from our homes, met the supposed guardians of Remnant, got transported there, got some neat weapons, and got a huge makeover. Speaking of appearances, I realized that I had not looked at myself since I'd woken up. Farther back in the cave was a pool of water. In my reflection, I saw someone with dark grey hair, a lighter shade of grey (almost a dirty silver) for irises, and grey clothing. I had on black boots and white gloves. Weirdly enough, I had had my hood up the entire time since I had awoken. I pulled it down and ruffled my hair. I felt two bumps that shouldn't have been there. I looked back into the pool, and sure enough, there were two things on my head. On top of my head, plain as day, was a pair of grey wolf ears. They were mostly grey, though the outlines of them was black.

I looked at my reflection in mild shock before the sensation faded, like it usually did. I still had trouble holding on to the feeling of emotions, ever since the accident. That didn't matter now. Not when I was here, who knows how far away. I moved back towards the group, this time with my hood down, and got their attention. "Well, it seems that not only did my appearance change, so did my species," I said as they all looked at me. Steven had a look of astonishment on his face, while Mark's was one of disbelief. But by far, James' was the most vocal.

"WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO YOUR HEAD DEVIN?!"

 **ENDING NOTES:**

 **Well, here we are. Chapter two already. I don't know if this will be a regular thing, or if I will have to stick to every other week. Either way, let me know what you thought, and any criticism would be greatly appreciated. And don't forget, it's also a gun!**


	3. The Best Laid Plans

**Author's Notes:**

 **Here we are, it seems I could get another chapter done in a week. Yay! Not only that, but also the story has reached over 200 views in just two chapters! That is way more than I ever expected. Thank you all so much. In case you were wondering, yes, I did change the name of the story. The original title was just hastily thrown together, and I think this one fits better. Now with that out of the way, let's get into the chapter.**

 **A Change in Perspective**

 **Chapter 3: The Best Laid Plans**

 _Drip_

We find our protagonist and his group in a cave. They are all sitting in a circle, with all but Devin having a look of contemplation on their face. Devin had just gotten done explaining what he was, a faunus. More specifically, he was a wolf faunus. He explained that faunus were just the same as humans, just a few extra furry appendages. Also, he told them that nearly all faunus were discriminated against because a lot of humans saw them as less than them.

Neither Mark nor Steven took the information quietly. Steven yelled in outrage that someone could be treated this way in everyday activities, while Mark found it abhorrent that anyone could call themselves human after condemning anyone to discrimination because of their looks.

James' reaction, however, was different. He just said that faunus should be able to live the way they want and others should leave them alone. Though, he also said that if anyone wasn't willing to fight for their rights, then they must not want them all that much.

After their discussion on faunus, Devin decided it would be good to see if anyone else was a faunus. He had them check their hair for ears and their backs for tails. Finally, he had them flex their hands to see if they had claws.

 **Devin POV**

Now that I knew no one else had ears or a tail, I moved on to class. I moved my hand around to match what Tukson did in the show as best I could. I did that three times before I finally got results. I made my hands into claws, and flicked them to the side. Sharp, almost two-inch claws shot from the tips of my fingers. My fingers itched, and feeling the claws was awkward. It was as though I just learned how to use my hand and were numb from being underused.

I instructed everyone what to do for the claws. I had James do it first. No matter what he did, nothing happened. Then I moved to Steven, with the same results. Finally, was Mark. He had a tough time following my instructions. It was either he couldn't cup his palm enough, or his fingers weren't enough. After the eleventh try, he yelled out in frustration and slammed his hands against his leg, and yelped in pain.

He pulled his hands from his leg, and there were blood-stained claws on each hand. He fell to a knee as he pulled up his pants. When they were rolled up enough, I could see deep gouges in his leg, though there seemed to be some steam coming off them. His wounds were starting to seam themselves together right in front of us. Before even a minute had passed, his leg was completely fine, no evidence that it had ever been hurt.

After the shock left the other's systems, we all got back together and talked about what to do next. "What was that?" James scowled at Mark, as he turned to him. "What the fuck happened to you?" I spoke up and reminded them of the decisions we made. "Remember," I said with disinterest, "we chose to come here with weapons and semblance." Looks of realization flashed across their faces. Mark sighed in what I could only assume was relief.

"Oh yeah, we all agreed to come here and kick Grimm butt," Steven pumped his fist into the air. "But, how do we do that exactly? It's not like any of us know how to use our weapons." He finished. I closed my eyes in thought. We could go to Ozpin and explain the situation to him, but after volume three and four, I didn't know if I could trust him. Another alternative was Qrow, but I doubted he would even give our story any thought before he threw it away as garbage.

I opened my eyes and told them my plan. "We're going to train. We'll find out how to use our weapons efficiently and effectively. Then, we will do what we can to help the people of this world," I declared. I looked to the others, and they seemed to agree with my thinking. This was our plan for now. This is how I would help them. I was resolute.

 **LINE BREAK**

Four months. We've been training for four months so far. It was tiring and we didn't see improvements at first. The only thing we learned in the whole first month was how to correctly hold our weapons, and swing them. It turned out that Steven's halberd had a function that allowed it to become a hand axe.

It was during the second month that we began to see the most change in our swordsmanship. I noticed that our strikes were stronger, faster, and more natural. We moved through the motions more fluidly. Gone were the stiff and telegraphed strikes, and now we slashed and struck like a dance. We learned to weave attacks together to make our own kata and we practiced them religiously.

It was in the third month, however, that we noticed the biggest change for ourselves. Steven and James learned how to activate their semblances. Steven's simply took a thought, though he couldn't control more than five things, and they had to be in eyesight. James' was activated in another way. He had to envision he was where he wanted to be, take a step, and he was more or less where he looked. It took both of them the whole month to get a hold of how to use them to their fullest potential.

Though, when they found out their semblances, they wanted to know why I chose not to have one.

 **Flashback**

I'm slashing into a tree with my swords, hoping to get deeper into the bark this session. As I'm hacking away, I hear footsteps behind me. I stop what I'm doing, sheath my swords, and then turn around. Mark, Steven, and James are all looking at me with questioning looks on their faces.

"What do you want? Is something wrong?" I raise my eyebrow in question. Mark and Steven shuffle before James sighs and begins to talk. "Fine! If you fucks won't ask him, I will," he said, and then he glared at me with knitted eyebrows. I look to Steven and Mark, hoping for an explanation, but I receive none. They just stare at the ground.

"Fine James, what do you want?"

"Why, when those black and white fuckers asked us what we wanted for a semblance, did you say you wanted none? Is it a curse!?" He screamed at me, anger and betrayal clear on his face. I sighed. I knew this would come up, I had simply wished for it to later.

I moved closer to them and then spoke, "To answer your question, I must have one of my own answered. All of you, why did you choose to have the powers you did? What was your reasoning?" I looked at them as they contemplated their answers. James was the first to reply, followed by Steven and then Mark.

"I just thought teleporting would be cool."

"I mean, telepathy is just, kind of a neat power. That's it really."

"I thought regeneration would help me survive here."

I glanced at all three of their faces. They said what they did without wavering, but I didn't believe a word they said. "Really Mark, it wasn't because you just didn't want anyone to get hurt if you could allow It? That you would even turn your body into a shield if need be?" Mark looked down in thought, as if just realizing this himself.

"How about you Steven? Was it because it was neat, or because you finally wanted control over something in your life?" Steven's hand made a tight fist and his face was a mix of anger and pain.

"And finally, you, James? You chose teleportation. Was it because it was a cool power, or was it because you wanted to be able to go anywhere, at any time, no matter what. To be free." James looked at his hands, ashamed, right before he balled them into fists and yelled at me again.

"What does that have to do with anything? He asked. What does any of that shit matter!? You still didn't answer my fucking question!" I looked straight at him. "A semblance," I began, "Is a physical manifestation of our souls. This means that a semblance represents what you truly desire." I took a break to take a breath and ready myself. "What we want is connected to a person's emotions."

I could see the wheels turning in their heads. Steven was the first to speak his mind. "Then would that mean, you couldn't have a semblance?" Steven asked.

"I don't know. And if I did have one, I really don't want to know what it would be," I finished in a whisper.

 **End Flashback**

Ever since that conversation, James has interacted with me less, though Mark and Steven still act the same. I shouldn't have said what I did, but what was done was done. There was nothing I could do to change it. I shook the memory from my mind. I needed to keep reviewing what had happened so far.

The lighters from Mark's pack had been invaluable for the first two months. They allowed us to make fires and cook food much easier. Though, they were made obsolete at the end of the third month. It turned out the cave was more than just a gorge in the rock wall, it was filled with dust at the rear of it. It had burn, air, shock, water, gravity, and ground dust in it. We could use the burn dust to make fires much easier than with the lighters.

At first, I was sure that it would be a long time before we were able to use them in combat, until I remembered a fanfiction I had read. It talked about how, in mixing herbs with dust, you could make dust cigarettes.

After this revelation, I went to the front of the cave and plucked a few handfuls of the mint leaves. I then got to work mashing up the mint leaves. When it came to the dust, I knew I needed to grate it somehow. So, I grabbed my ninjato and began carving them up. Thankfully, it seemed that if you held the dust gently enough, it wouldn't react with a sword blade.

After I had enough of all the kinds of dust we had powdered, I began to mix it with the mint paste. For the paper rolls, I pulverized some strong tree leaves, rolled the paste out, and cut it into squares. From there, I experimented with the proper ratio of mint to dust so it would work properly. When that was done, the last step was to figure out how to make the dust work without aura, because it seemed that Kalameet and Jundo left our auras locked.

It proved to be easier than I thought. When I smoked the D-Cigs, (that's what I'm calling the dust cigarettes) the dust would stay in my lungs until I blew out with all my breath. After that, the dust would form a cloud that attached to anything it touched, and could be ignited with a single spark.

Knowing this, I coated the last inch of the four-inch D-Cigs with very small stripes of burn dust. When the ember reached this area, it would slowly burn through each stripe of burn dust, giving me enough time to throw the butt of it at the dust cloud, igniting it and causing it to react much more violently than uncut crystals, or even powder. Even though I showed they were safe to use, no one was willing to smoke them.

Another interesting thing we learned, was what agitated dust was. Turns out, that agitated dust is any dust that has been thrown around and the crystal shape of it has structural damage. This causes the dust to minutely activate its properties. This was learned when I knocked a gravity dust crystal onto the cave floor and it became harder to walk. I realized that I could harness this and use it without aura.

I decided to use the agitated gravity as a means of weights. The idea was brought forth by thinking of Rock Lee from the anime Naruto and how he was able to become crazy fast because of weights. I began to see how far I could push the dust before it detonated. It turns out, pretty far. I could push them to make gravity roughly around three times heavier.

Then, I started to see how I could attach the crystals to my body. I settled on a wood bracer that had a hollow core to store the crystals in. Of course, it was a rudimentary setup, and it would only help for so long. Only James was willing to use the weights, saying that he wanted to be fast if he used a knife. But, so far, we hadn't been able to even go beyond two times the normal gravity. Our bodies simply couldn't handle the stress that accompanied extra weight of that scale. James and I had four bracers on. One for each hand and foot.

That was the last eventful thing that happened the third month.

That was enough reminiscing. I needed to get ready for my trip. When I found out we had dust, I knew I was going to sell some of it for lien. My plan was to go to Beacon, hitch a ride on an airship to Vale, and then find a dust store not owned by the Schnee and sell it there. The best place for me to go was From Dust Till Dawn. I'm sure that the shop keep would love some half-priced dust.

I knew that going to Beacon was a risk, but I knew no other way to get to Vale. RWBY never showed a way to get to Vale on foot, so I needed to go to Beacon to find my way there. I packed five crystals of each dust, and got ready to go. As I was leaving, James stopped me. He stared at me for a few seconds before he gained his voice.

"Look Devin," he began, "I know we haven't been on the best terms lately, but just, fuckin, be careful, OK?" he sighed as he looked at me regretfully. I moved to stand in front of him as I stretched out my fist. He smiled and bumped his fist against mine. I nodded my head to him as I walked in the direction of Beacon and said, "Make sure the other two stays out of trouble OK?" and continued on my way.

 **LINE BREAK**

I came up to the cliff that Beacon sat on. It overlooked the Emerald Forest and stood about two hundred and fifty feet tall. I unsheathed my swords, and stabbed them into the cliff. I began to climb using them as my handholds. It took me fifteen minutes to climb the cliff, and quickly moved forward. It was about another fifteen minutes before I first saw Beacon. Its silver spires towering over everything else. I quickly moved to Beacon's square and saw a few students out and about.

I moved toward the docks, and immediately ran into a problem. They were having passengers show scrolls and what looked to be prove they were Beacon students. "Shit, I need to find a scroll," I said to myself.

I walked back towards the square, hoping to pick-pocket a student and steal their scroll. I sat on a bench, and waited. Thankfully, within five minutes, a student walked by and their scroll just fell from their pockets. Huh, bad luck for him.

I quickly got up and grabbed the scroll and opened it. The screen asked for a pin code. I first tried 0000, then 1111, and so on. Finally, I tried 6969, and it unlocked. I sighed, it amazed me how immature some people could be.

There seemed to be a few apps on the scroll. I went to settings and saw one that said, "Beacon Student ID." I opened the tab and it showed all the info on a driver's license. I clicked on the picture, not thinking it would let me do anything, but a message popped up that said, "Change Image?" I clicked yes and chose to use the camera. I also changed the picture and personal info.

After messing with the student ID, I once again walked to the docks. I got to an entrance, saw a woman checking scrolls, and asked if this airship was going to Vale. She said yes so showed her the scroll. After a few tense seconds of scrutiny, the checkpoint lady let me threw. After that, I got a seat closest to the door, and waited.

Once we began moving, I let myself relax and my muscles untensed. The ride into Vale was uneventful. It was five minutes before we landed, and I was the first to disembark from the aircraft.

Once I was off, I began my search for the dust shop. I looked through the streets until I found it. It was a quaint little shop that had a cream-colored exterior, surrounded on both sides by a brick wall. It had two windows and a single arch shaped door.

I walked in the door and saw the shop keep in front of the counter, wiping the countertops with a rag. He was bald on the top of his head, and had aged grey hair on the back and sides. He had bushy eyebrows of the same color, and had his eyes closed. He was wearing a green shirt covered by a red apron.

I walked to the counter and he greeted me, "Welcome to From Dust Till Dawn, the only dust shop guaranteed to match any dust prices in the market," he said with a smile.

I removed Mark's bag from my back, and set it on the floor. "I'm not here to buy any dust, I was actually hoping to sell some." I pulled the dust from the bag and set it on the counter. He picked one up and examined it. He turned it over and over, then put it back down.

"Young man, just where did you get this dust? It is of a much higher quality than even what I sell," he said with astonishment. I quickly thought of what to tell him, and just said that I happened upon a cave while hiking and found dust inside of it. "Well, what were you wanting out of it?" He asked cautiously. He most likely thought that I wanted the maximum amount out of them. How wrong he was.

I looked at the dust crystals he had, and saw that none of them went below seven thousand, five hundred lien. I took a moment to decide, nodded to myself, and gave him my price. "Six thousand per crystal. I won't go any lower." He stared at me, well what I thought was staring, it was hard to tell without seeing his eyes, and hastily said "DEAL!"

He gave me six thousand lien per crystal, and I had twenty-five crystals, so I was able to get one hundred-fifty thousand lien for practically nothing. Before I could leave however, he got my attention. "Young man, because you sold me this dust so cheap, why don't you pick three canisters of dust, on the house?" he asked me as I turned around. There was no reason to say no, so I took the canisters he provided me, and took one each of ice, steam, and magma, which I was ready to test with already. Magma was the color of orange-red, and I wanted to know what it did.

As I was beginning to leave, I heard something. It was faint, but I would recognize that anywhere. It was a song.

" _They see you as small and helpless, they see you as just a child."_

I instantly looked to the back if the store, and sure enough, I see a figure in a red cloak with the hood up, black leggings and black boots. "Well, fuck me and call me Sally," I said as I looked at Ruby. That meant that-

*Ching*

I didn't need to turn around to see what was happening. I quickly hid behind the dust counter and stayed quiet. It wasn't until Ruby kicked one of the goons out the window that I acted. I quickly drew my ninjato and engaged one of Junior's thugs.

He saw me coming and attacked with a very telegraphed one-handed slash with his red sword. I blocked it easily with my left ninjato, then I swung horizontally under our locked swords, and he was pushed back. I then followed up with a diagonal slash with my right sword, and knocked him into the wall. His head smacked into it, and he laid there, unmoving.

I quickly got outside and saw Roman about to attack Ruby. I ran to Roman's back and did a diagonal slash from my right shoulder to my left hip with both swords. He was thrown to the ground where I tried to take his cane away, but I was cut in the back by one of the goons. I pushed away the pain as I spun around and kicked him in the chest. I moved closer to him and engaged in a sword fight. Fortunately, he wasn't any more skilled than the other I fought, so a few slashes and a final kick to the face was all it took to beat him. Unfortunately, when I turned around, both Roman and Ruby were gone.

I moved to the nearest building with a side ladder and climbed it. When I got to the top, both Ruby and Glynda were already there and fighting Cinder from the bullhead.

I ran to their position and began to fire on the aircraft. Glynda and Ruby looked back at me for a split second, before they redoubled their efforts on stopping the fugitives. I kept shooting, until I ran out of bullets. When we arrived, we only had the clips we were given, so we always used our guns as a last resort. Just because I was out of ammo, didn't mean I was out of the fight. I switched my guns to sword form, then addressed Ruby.

"Cloak girl! Do you have any shots left in that thing?" I asked her. She looked at me then smirked. "What do you have in mind?" she asked. I looked at her and said one word. "Spin!" She had a full-blown smile on her face as she began to spin, using her sniper shot to keep her momentum up. I jumped on the blade, and rode it for a few seconds, then yelled, "Tilt the blade up and shoot!" The ground became an incline as I readied myself. I heard a "HYAA" as I was flung up towards the bullhead.

I put both ninjato in front of me like a human spear. I saw Cinder's eyes widen as I crashed into her, sword first. Even though what I did should have killed her, she just stood up, barely favoring her right side. I miscalculated. I forgot about her aura. I slashed at her, hoping to overwhelm her, but nothing connected. She evaded every one of my attacks, and when I pushed her to the back of the bullhead, I thought I finally had her.

Just as I was about to hit her, she spun behind me, and my swords hit the metal frame. I heard crackling being me, and I ducked as a vortex of flames impacted where my head would have been. Before I could recover, I was kicked in the head, and I smacked into the floor. I rolled onto my side and moved behind her. She quickly, and faster than I could react, punched me in the face and I staggered backwards, and fell out of the aircraft.

Thankfully, I landed on the roof, but not without damages. I landed on my left leg, and I felt something pop. I then slipped and fell onto my back, agitating my sword wound.

I tried to stand up, but my ankle wouldn't allow it, so I took a knee, as I watched Cinder get away. I looked to my right and saw Ruby look to Glynda with wonder in her eyes. "You're a huntress," she said. "Can I get your autograph?" A tense second of silence was followed by a very stern "No."

 **LINE BREAK**

"Look, neither of us had anything to do with them alright." I said as I slouched in the metal chair. I was in a dimly lit room with only two chairs and a table, all of which were metal. The other chair was occupied by Ruby, and we were being scolded by Goodwitch.

"Oh, I believe you," she began, "I'm simply shocked that you would go and commit such a heinous act with a group of men you've never even met, late at night, in an alleyway."

Oh, I was going to milk this for as long as I could. "Or as you like to call it, Wednesday night," I replied, before she slammed her riding crop down into the table. Glynda Goodwitch was an average aged woman, with yellow hair in a bun, with green eyes. Her choice of dress was a white blouse, with a black and purple cape, that went to the middle of her back and ended in multiple tears. She also wore a black dress bottom and black leggings that led into black heels.

"Jesus, take a joke," I said without any inflection. Honestly this meant more for me than I let on. "Does it look like I'm taking this lightly?" she asked sternly.

"Well, you do seem better at taking it hard."

SMACK

Right as she was about to retort, Ozpin walked in. Ozpin looked to be an older man with grey hair that covered his left eye. His eyes are walnut color, and on his nose, lay a pair of glasses. His choice of clothing was a green ascot of sorts, with a cross on it, a dark green over coat and pants, and a green undershirt.

"Ruby Rose and you sir, you both have silver eyes," he declared. Ruby began to stammer, trying to come up with a response. My thoughts turned to the last time I saw Ozpin on RWBY. I balled my hands into fists and narrowed my eyes, as anger swept through me. How dare he speak to us after what he did! He killed Penny and Pyrrha! He caused Beacon to fall!

"So where did you learn to do this?"

My fists pressed tight against my legs.

"S-signal Academy."

"They taught you to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?" a condescending voice asked

My fingernails pierced into my skin, and my palms began to bleed.

"Well, one teacher in particular."

"I see. It's just that I've only ever seen one other scythe wielder of that skill before. A dusty old crow."

My entire body began to shake as I lowered my head. My anger was boiling! I've NEVER been this mad before. FELT this much HATRED!

"Ats mu nkl."

"That's my uncle Qrow. He's a teacher here at Signal. I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing, and now I'm all like hoo, wtchaa, woah."

"So, I've noticed. And what is an adorable girl such as yourself doing at a school designed to train warriors?"

My teeth clenched and my face contorted into a visage of anger and hate.

"Well, I want to be a huntress."

"You want to slay monsters?"

"Yeah. I only have two more years of training left at Signal, and then, I'm going to apply to Beacon. See my sister's starting there this year and she's trying to become a huntress, and I'm trying to become a huntress, because I want to help people. And my parents always taught us to help others, so I thought weeeell, I might as well make a career out of it. I mean the police are alright, but huntress' and huntsman are just so much more romantic and exciting and cool, just eeyyuuu ya know?"

"Do you know who I am?"

THAT WAS IT!

"I KNOW WHO YOU ARE! YOUR -" my breath left me as my anger did, leaving a pit that felt ten times larger than before. The rest of my sentence died in my throat as I was silenced. Everyone in the room looked towards me. Ruby's eyes were wide with fear and confusion. Glynda had her hand on the base of her crop, waiting for me to make a move. But Ozpin, he just sat there, studying me with narrowed eyes.

I closed my mouth and eyes as exhaustion swept through me. My wounds seemed to throb a little more as that feeling of emotions left me again. "Oh, and who am I then my boy?" I looked him in the eye, my anger gone, my eyes were once again apathetic to the world. "You're Ozpin, headmaster at Beacon," I replied tiredly, barely above a whisper. Everything had compacted today and I just wanted to sleep.

"Well then, how would the both of you like to come to my school?" Ruby of course immediately said yes. I had yet to reply. I knew he was offering me this position because of my eyes, not that he knew I didn't have the silver eyed powers.

I knew I might regret this decision, but it was the best thing I could do at the current moment.

"On one condition," I began.

 **ENDING NOTES:**

 **Whew this took a long time to write. I really wanted to nail Devin's character this chapter. Lots of story in this chapter, so I hope you all enjoyed it. Let me know what you guys thought, and thank you all for reading. This is CanEvenCookEgg, signing off.**


	4. A Slight Change

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

 **Whelp, it seems I can pump these babies out in a week. Who knew? Also, sorry about the late upload. I didn't have time to upload earlier today. Anyways, this chapter was the most fun to write so far. Here's hoping it turned out just as good as I wanted it to.**

 **A Change in Perspective**

 **Chapter 4: A Slight Change**

 _SHAKE_

 _RUMBLE_

 _SHUDDER_

The floor shifted under me as we were lifted from the ground. I grabbed onto the back of my seat as we began to move.

Lifting my head, I surveyed my surroundings. I was in a metal walled space filled with other people. On closer inspection, the people were no older than teenagers. All of them were armed in some sort, whether it be swords, guns, and even staffs and maces.

On my left were two people. They had black spiky hair and reddish smoothed hair respectively. Black had on a mix of black and purple clothes, and a knife strapped to his thigh. Red had a hand axe at his hip, and wore red and brown clothes.

On my right, was another figure. It had brown hair and was wearing black and blue clothes, with a katana strapped to its waist.

They were, in order, James, Steven, and Mark. These were the people who had come to this world with me.

I sighed before closing my mouth as I cringed. The smell of so many people wasn't a welcomed one. I reached down to my bag, and pulled out a lighter.

"Nghh!" My back rippled with pain as I stretched my muscles. I thought back to what had transpired after I left the interrogation room.

 **FLASHBACK**

 _I quickly ran back to the forest. Thankfully, in the lobby of the police station that I had left had a map of the area. I weaved through people and vehicles alike as I tried to get back to the cave as soon as possible._

 _My back screamed in protest as I jumped and ducked through the streets, almost to the outskirts of Vale. My back was cold and wet from the copious amounts of blood staining it. Thankfully, my ankle was barely an annoyance at this point._

 _Finally, I got to the forest. I ran to the familiar path and took it back to the cave. When I got there, it was already dusk, and the others were most likely in the cave. I got to the cave and walked in. They were all sitting around a fire, looking ready for sleep. My heavy footfalls alerted them to my presence._

 _They grabbed at their weapons before they saw me. I flopped down and panted. I was out of breath from the running and the pain. They came close to me and their mouths started moving, but I couldn't hear. My vision became blurry, before everything turned black._

 **END FLASHBACK**

After I woke from my impromptu nap, I was bombarded by questions. I quitted them down and explained the situation to them. I told them of my fight with Cinder and Roman, the interrogation, and of Ozpin's request. I told them what I bargained. I let Ozpin know that I would only attend Beacon if my three friends also got to. He took very little time to agree.

I also told them of a very important rule that we needed to address before we went to the school. I informed them of the color naming rule. This meant that at least one part of a person's name was based on a color. We decided to make last names for ourselves. After a few hours, these were the results.

Devin Ash.

Steven Crimson.

James Han.

And Mark Nightshade.

I found Mark's name particularly ironic. How I wonder Blake would react. That is, if she knows what her name translates into. It would be even better when he showed her his claws.

Back on track with my thoughts of Beacon, I was told by Ozpin that there would be two weeks before the new term started. It gave me enough time to finally try out my new project. My arms throbbed in response to my thoughts. They still hurt under their bandages.

I reached down to my new tool belt. I had purchased it with some of the dust money. On the belt, there were six different colored satchels. They were red, blue, yellow, green, purple, and orange. In the pouches were my D-Cigs. They were separated by dust type; burn, water, shock, air, gravity, and magma respectively.

I grabbed a water one and lit it with a lighter. Once I found out that I could make these, I've gone nowhere without a lighter. They help to drown out the smell of the world. As I lifted the D-Cig to my mouth, I heard a loud noise to my left.

I looked over to see a woman with blond hair picking another lady with red tipped black hair, off the ground in a hug. So, it seemed that Ruby and Yang wouldn't be hard to find. I watched them interact for a while, before Yang turned in my direction, scanning the crowd. When her eyes panned over me, she stopped and stared.

She walked over to me and glowered at me. I raised my eyebrow questioningly "Can I help you?" Her eyes narrowed and zoomed in on the D-Cig. "Yeah, would you mind putting that thing away? Some of us don't like smelling smoke on a flight," she said heatedly. I sighed and closed my eyes. This is not what I needed right now. Before the flight, I had made sure I could bring these with me. Thankfully, all Beacon airships were smoke friendly.

"Well, last I checked, all airships have an air filtration system in them, which allows me to smoke," I motioned behind her to Ruby, who looked terrified of what was going on. "Now if you please, I would like to finish this ride in peace, so can you leave?" I asked as nicely as I could. This was not the first impression I wanted, but there was no way I was putting down the cigarette.

Yang turned around, saw Ruby, and looked back at me. "Whatever," she said through gritted teeth as her eyes flashed red, "you're lucky my sister doesn't want me to get in fights today," she finished and she walked back to Ruby. That could have gone better. It should have. Sigh. Oh well, I thought as I put my headphones over my ears. I connected them to my phone and hit shuffle on my playlist. (Play Nicotine by Panic at the Disco!)

 _Cross my heart and hope to die_

 _Burn my lungs and curse my eyes_

 _I've lost control and I don't want it back_

 _I'm going numb, I've been hijacked_

 _It's a fucking drag_

 _I taste you on my lips and I can't get rid of you_

 _So, I say damn your kiss and the awful things you do_

 _You're worse than nicotine_

 _You're worse than nicotine_

Huh, how ironically appropriate.

 **YANG POV**

"And then he just told me to buzz off after I asked him to not light the cigarette nicely. Ughh! How can you be so inconsiderate!" I yelled to Ruby as I explained the conversation I had with the guy. "Well Yang, did you really ask nicely? Are you sure?" Ruby asked me with disbelief in her voice.

"Of course, I did Ruby. It's not my fault he has a smoky personality. Ehh? Ehh?" I looked to Ruby for confirmation on my pun, but instead I saw her with her face in hands.

She mumbled something before she looked to me and paused.

"Do you smell that? Is that mint?" she asked as she moved around trying to find the smell. I too looked around. The smell seemed to come from behind us. I turned around and saw that man sitting there, smoking his blue cigarette. I walked in that direction again, to find the source of the smell.

As I got closer, the smell got stronger. It was coming from him! That guy I was arguing with. But how? He was smoking for Oum's sake. I had to know what the smell was, so I moved in front of him, and asked. I waited for a response. And waited. And waited.

He never replied.

Just as I was about to grab him and make him talk, he tensed, and reached to his back. I readied Ember Celica for a fight. He raised his head and looked me in the eyes. He then slowly relaxed and reached into his hood, pulling out a pair of black headphones that were playing music. He shut them off, and then looked back up at me.

 **DEVIN POV**

A shadow fell on me. My body tensed, ready for a fight. I quickly reached for my weapon, and looked up. It was Yang again. I was spared fighting inside a flying coffin, thankfully. I reached to my ears and pulled down my headphones. I shut them off and gave her my attention.

"Is there something you need?" I asked her with a sigh. I watched her reaction, but it seemed subdued. She looked at the ground before, seemingly getting her courage, and asked me a question. "What is the mint smell coming from your cigarette? How does it smell that nice?" She looked at me with narrowed, questioning eyes.

As I was about to answer, the airship landed. The floor shook and rumbled as we docked. Everyone grabbed their things and began to leave the ship. James stood up and started to walk out, motioning for us to follow. I shrugged and moved to follow him, leaving behind an irate blond.

We walked till we got to the courtyard. It was the same circular patch of pavement that I had been to before. I pointed to the main entrance and said, "I'll meet you guys there, OK. I've got something I need to do." They murmured their agreement and moved to their new destination.

I sat down on a bench and waited for Ruby and Yang to show up. I sat and took in the sounds of the world around me. I could hear the shuffling of people moving about, the wind blowing, and even some small birds singing. These were the moments I relished in life. The ability to slow down and hear nature. Humans had the amazing ability to ignore the world around them and live their lives in a tunnel. But because of that, they rarely had the chance to see the bigger picture of life.

Just enjoy it.

You only get one life, and to squander it rushing as fast as you can is such a waste. What was the point running to a finish line, when the prize is the end? Why not take your time to see the world you were born into and appreciate the life you are given? Unfortunately, most don't even think of this as they want to be the best, get the best job, or the best grades. Honestly, it seemed backwards to do these things, but it was my philosophy that if you live your life the way you want, then I won't condemn it. No matter what you do, as long as you love it, I won't judge you. Even if you chose a darker path, it would be hypocritical of me to tell someone else not to follow that path.

My thoughts were interrupted by two familiar smells, and a new one. I cracked one eye open to see the two sisters of team RWBY. Behind them was our resident dust heiress. She had her cart of luggage being pushed by, presumably, some Schnee Dust Company workers.

I was able to hear the half-sisters talk, before Yang and her group of friends, who were thankfully not just black silhouettes, stormed past Ruby and caused her to start to spin. I quickly got up and grabbed her hand just before she fell into Weiss' luggage. Ruby, who's eyes had been closed moments before to brace for impact, slowly opened them. She saw that she was sideways, and not on the ground. Her eyes traced to her arm, where our hands were connected. Her face started to burn as I pulled her upright.

"Hmm, umm, well, u-uhh, t-thanks," Ruby stuttered as she tried to compose herself. Before our stellar conversation on quantum entanglement could continue, a shrill, high-pitched voice cut through the air, "You complete DOLT! Watch where you're going!" shouted our white heiress. "You almost knocked over all of my dust! Do you know what could have happened?" she asked with a snooty voice, her right hand on her hip as she leaned close to Ruby.

Ruby began to stutter out an apology, but Weiss was on a roll. She pulled out a bottle of blue dust and began to wave it around like a rattle. "This is dust mined and purified from the Schnee Quarry." Ruby once again tried to reconcile with Weiss, but was ignored. "Fire, water, lightning energy! Does any of this ring a bell?" she half asked and half yelled as her shaking got more intense and blue dust began to pour out. Quick as I could, I grabbed the dust bottle from her hand and adjusted the cork to make sure it was properly sealed.

"Who are you? And give me my dust back!" she yelled at me. I gave the container a last once over, and handed it to her. She roughly snatched it from my hand, and upturned her nose to me. "My name is Devin Ash, and you need to be more careful with your dust. It was poorly sealed, and could have caused an incident, had it been agitated enough," I replied to her. As an afterthought I added, "Also, I would recommend using ceramic jars with rubber toppers to transport dust."

Her face frowned in confusion, before she shook it. "I don't need advice in dust from someone like you," she said as she walked away. Someone like me? What did that mean? I couldn't think of anything that would warrant such a response, before I felt a burning pain in my fingers. I shook it and looked down. In my haste to stop Ruby from wrecking the courtyard with a sneeze, I had forgotten about my D-Cig. Huh, she must not like smokers.

There was a small burn on both my index and middle fingers. I grimaced and grunted as I shook the pain from my hands. "Oh my gosh, are you OK?" Ruby asked from my right. She looked at my hand with worry and guilt in her eyes. I sighed and put my hand in my jacket pocket. "I'm fine cloak girl. Just a slight burn is all," I said to reassure her.

Her face changed to one of relief, before she narrowed her silver eyes. Eyes that could stop a Grimm the size of beacon, and they were trained on me, but I felt no fear, nor hesitation. Mostly because I couldn't, partly because I knew she couldn't control them, but also because I knew she wouldn't use them on someone that had simply annoyed her. "My name is Ruby Rose, Devin. Why can't you remember that?" she asked exasperated.

She was referring to Ozpin's interrogation. During my explanation of the events, I kept calling her cloak girl, no matter how many times she reminded me of her name. "I know your name Ruby, but I have a tendency to forget names, so I chose something I wouldn't forget," and I meant that. Back on Earth, I had a tough time remembering new people's names, and would often give them ridiculous names, just to have something to remember.

"Anyway, I think we should go to the assembly, don't you?" I looked to her for confirmation, but heard another voice instead, "Hey, if you know where you're going, can you show me too?" someone asked to my left. I smirked slightly, before smoothing my facial features and turned around. "No problem…"

"Jaune, Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it," he said with fake confidence.

"Do they?" I asked with a deadpan voice. "They will! Well, I hope they will. My mom always says that, never mind," he replied before cutting himself off. "Either way, the assembly is this way," I pointed to the main entrance of Beacon. We all began walking towards the entrance.

We walked into Beacon's main hall, and I was immediately assaulted with noise and smell. I could hear all their voices, echoing in my ears. I could smell all of them. Their perfumes, cologne, and their body odor. All of it together made me want to throw up. I grabbed my nose and covered my mouth to keep my breakfast down. I looked left and right, and saw a balcony. I excused myself and quickly made my way there. I held my breath until I got to the balcony where I greedily gulped down air.

I slid down the balcony railing and slowly calmed down. This was so much worse than When I got on the airship. When I first boarded the aircraft, I could smell and hear about thirty people. This was so much worse. There had to be almost two hundred people in that room. I didn't think I would be able to stay there, let alone sleep in the room.

I breathed in as much air as my lungs would allow, and blew out. With my breath, came the water dust that I smoked earlier. I pulled my lighter from my pocket and lit the dust. It turned into a wave of water that crashed into the ground below. I did this for a very important reason. I learned from my dust tests that it wasn't good to mix two kinds of dust. I did that once with water and burn, and ended up breathing steam for three days.

Next, I reached into my green pouch and got another cigarette. This one being made of air dust. I quickly lit it, and took a long drag from it. I held the smoke for a few seconds, before blowing it out. I also lot my headphones over my ears and chose a song.

(Play Novocaine by Fall Out Boy)

" _This is a black, black ski mask song_

 _So, put all of your anger on_

 _In the truly gruesome do we trust_

 _I will always land on you like a sucker punch_

 _Singin, I am your worst, I am your worst nightmare_

 _I am your worst, I am your worst nightmare_

 _If you knew, knew what the bluebirds sing at you_

 _You would never sing along_

 _Cast them out 'cause this is our culture_

 _These new flocks are nothing but vultures_

I began to make my way back into the room, my senses thankfully dulled thanks to the music and smoke. Even so, I could still smell a mix of scents from those close to me. It would be horrible if I couldn't become accustomed to these scents. After a minute of walking, I found my group.

 _Because they took our love and they filled it up_

 _Filled it up with novocaine and now I'm just numb_

 _Now I'm just numb_

Steven, James, and Mark were all waiting in a group for me, near the left wall of the room. They waved me to them and I sat down.

 _Don't mind me, I'm just a sun of a gun_

 _So, don't stop don't stop, till your heart goes numb_

 _I don't feel a thing for you!_

After I sat down, I pulled a notebook and a pencil from my bag.

 _I'm just a problem that doesn't wanna be solved_

 _So, could you please hold your applause_

 _Take this sideshow and all its freaks_

 _And turn it into the silver screen, dream_

 _Singing I am your worst, I am your worst nightmare_

 _I am your worst, I am your worst nightmare_

I wrote down why I was wearing my headphones and smoking, as I finished the D-Cig. I pulled a black ash tray from my pack and put the stub in there.

 _If you knew, knew what the bluebirds sing at you,_

 _You would never sing along_

 _Cast them out 'cause this is our culture_

 _These new flocks are nothing but vultures_

 _Because they took our love and they filled it up_

 _Filled it up with novocaine and now I'm just numb_

 _And now I'm just numb_

 _And don't mind me, I'm just a son of a gun_

 _So, don't stop, don't stop 'till your heart goes numb_

 _And now I'm just numb_

 _I don't feel a thing for you_

I sat for a minute as they read the paper. As they read, Mark and Steven showed concern over my enhanced senses. I waved it off though, so they continued reading.

 _I said one day the bell is gonna swallow me whole_

 _And I feel like a photo that's been overexposed_

 _Because they took our love and they filled it up_

 _Filled it up with novocaine and now I'm just numb_

 _And now I'm just numb_

 _Don't mind me, I'm just a son of a gun_

 _So, don't stop, don't stop 'till your heart goes numb_

 _And now I'm just numb_

 _I don't feel a thing for you"_

Before they could begin to ask me questions, I pulled my pillow from my bag. I wrote the words "Wake me when Ozpin starts his speech," before laying down. I really needed a nap. Hopefully, some rest would help to sort out the sounds and smells in the room. The last thought I had before I fell asleep, was that this song reminded me of Raven.

 **ENDING NOTES:**

 **Yay, another chapter done. I would really like to know what you guys thought of the dialogue of this chapter. Was it fluid or realistic, or robotic and artificial. That is what I've been having the most trouble with, so some feedback on that front would be most appreciated. Also, I changed something from the cannon of the story. It's a minute, cosmetic, detail, but let me know if you guys catch it. Alright, that'll do it for this chapter of A Change in Perspective. Have a good day everyone!**


	5. Where it Truly Begins

**AUTHOR'S NOTES**

 **Hello everyone. I'm back with the fifth chapter of A Change in Perspective. Unfortunately, I had to rush to finish the last part of the chapter, but I hit the points I needed to, so let me know what you think.**

 **LogIcaL: Thank you for the review, and I will continue to sprinkle music into the chapters where I see fit.**

 **A Change in Perspective**

 **Chapter 5: Where it Truly Begins**

After my short nap, we listened to Ozpin's speech. Glynda came to the mix and introduced him and he gave the exact same speech from the show. After the speech, Glynda came back to the stage to let everyone know that we would be staying in the main hall, and it would not be split by gender. That statement alone seemed to excite more than a few people.

She also announced that at the back hall were washrooms that we could use to our leisure. Those were separated by gender. Also, we would need to prepare for an outing tomorrow. Glynda advised bringing defense against Grimm, and to be prepared for a fight.

After the announcements, James excused himself to the washrooms, as did Steven. Mark and I started to roll out our sleeping bags, which we had been able to buy with the dust money, and laid down for the night. At least we had, until screaming was heard. I looked to the source of the noise, and saw Weiss, Yang, Ruby, and a black-haired girl wearing a bow and reading a book. Blake set her book down and asked them to take their fighting somewhere else.

But instead, Weiss told Blake to stay out of it, and continued to yell with Yang and Ruby. I frowned as I realized that this was not what had happened in canon. This wasn't supposed to happen.

With that thought in mind, I formulated a plan and looked to Mark. "Mark, there's something I need some help with. You mind?" He sat up and yawned before replying, "Yeah, no problem. So, what do you need help with?" he asked when he stood up. I pointed to the group of four girls, and told him we were breaking up a cat fight. When he saw what I was pointing at, his shoulders sagged and he sighed. "Alright. Let's get this over with," he followed me with heavy steps.

When we were about halfway to the girls, Blake's bow twitched, and she looked towards us. Her eyes scanned over us in extreme scrutiny, before going back to her book. As we got to the girls, Ruby and Yang saw me. Yang had a frown, while Ruby wore a megawatt smile and ran over to me while yelling my name. She stopped in front of me and started to speak. "Hey Devin, I haven't seen you since we got to the hall. Why did you leave by the way? You were holding your nose and you looked like you were sick." she rambled without pause.

I stopped her with a raised hand, and I answered her. "I'm sorry about that. All the new smells and sounds compacted together wasn't a wonderful experience. I had to get some fresh air. Even now, I'm queasier than I'd like," I explained to her. When I said this, Blake's head snapped up to look at me, and stared. "Why would the smell of teenagers be that bad? OH MY GOSH! Is your semblance super smell? That would be so cool!" Ruby said after digesting my response.

I contemplated revealing that I was a faunus to them, but decided against it. I didn't know how they would react to this news. So instead of revealing this secret, I told another. "No Ruby, I don't have super smell. I don't have a semblance period."

Silence. They all looked at me with shock on their faces. "Devin, why did you tell these girls about that? I thought you said that we weren't supposed to talk about that to others," Mark cut in, talking for the first time. Yang, Ruby, and Weiss' heads snapped to Mark. He blushed and scratched the back of his head with his right hand.

"And just who are you?" Weiss asked snootily with a disapproving frown. Mark's hand clenched as something flashed in his eyes, too quick for anyone to see, but I knew what it was. Sadness. He closed his eyes and took a breath before he responded. "The name's Mark Nightshade, heiress." Blake stiffened to our side, and stared at Mark with burning, amber eyes.

I looked to Mark and explained the situation to him. "Mark, it's fine for them to know. I know I can trust this secret with them." I said with complete certainty. "How do you know you can trust them?" Mark asked with uncertainty. When we had first come here, I let Mark, Steven, and James know that my lack of a semblance was to remain hidden.

I looked at each of the girls in the eyes one by one, and said "Each of them has something to hide, so they know the importance of discretion." This was my gamble, my hoping I could bluff a win with a pair of two's. I needed a way to have them be close to me, but also give me room to execute my plans. I was hoping that the shock of what I had said would stay with them for quite some time, and make them think about what secrets they hid, and what they thought I knew.

My end goal from dropping this bit of information, was to make them move past their problems. Ruby's being her unwillingness to make tough decisions. Weiss problem was with her dad, and the white fang. Blake needed to move past the white fang, but also, she needed to leave Adam in the past. Yang's was the most difficult. Her's was a problem I could relate to. Wanting to find your real parents. Who could say this was an unworthy goal? Certainly not me. I've walked along that road before, and the destination is never a pretty one.

As what I said registered with the girls, I walked away. After a few steps, I simply stated, "Also, some people are trying to sleep, so if you could quiet it down, it would be much appreciated," and I kept walking. Soon, I heard Mark's footsteps behind me as he fell into line behind me.

We made our way back to our sleeping bags, where James and Steven were already back. "So, where the fuck did the two of you go?" James asked with a sideways glance. "Devin decided now was an appropriate time to drop his secret on some random girls. What's up with that Devin, and who were they?" Mark asked me. He turned to face me fully, his arms crossed against his chest with a demanding look.

"Fuck," I whispered to myself. I had forgotten to show them who the main characters were. "Here, follow me. I can't show this in public," I made my way towards the balcony I had used earlier and they followed me. When we got there, I pulled out my phone and looked through my photos. I got to the right one, and showed it to them. It was the volume three poster.

"So, what? You have a picture of those girls. What the fuck do they have to do with anything?" Why do I even bother not just spelling it out for them? "They matter because they are the girls of team RWBY. The team this show is named after. THEY are the main characters. They are the most important people here."

Understanding flashed in their eyes as they listened to me. After that, I put my phone back into my pocket and explained the finer details of our goals here. First, keep team RWBY safe, and to a lesser extent, JNPR. After explaining who team JNPR were, I continued. Our second goal was to mess up Cinder's plans. Thankfully, I had already told them about Cinder. And thirdly, I told them of my own solo mission. Mine was to figure out Ozpin's game, and find ways to make it work in our favor.

Once our meeting was adjourned, we all laid down for the night. Tomorrow would be a challenge. Not only did we have to not encounter anyone besides each other, we also had to find our way into a group and get an artifact back to Beacon. We had a game plan in place, and now we had to initiate it.

I laid my head on my pillow and closed my eyes. As I drifted off to sleep, I heard a faint, barely audible, whisper. What was said didn't register with me till I was in the Emerald Forest, but if it had, I wouldn't have gotten any sleep.

" _Get … ready. I'm ... he'll rec... ...im. Say ... to Shuk… for m… … you see hi…"_

"For years you have trained to become warriors, and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die." Ozpin spoke to the line of hopeful students, as we all waited on our platforms. Mark, James, Steven, and I were all in a row, at the far-left side of the platforms.

Mark's wakizashi was held in a two-handed grip. James had his knife in a reverse grip in his right hand, and his left hand idly tapped a rhythm on his thigh. Steven had his halberd, still in hand axe form, in his right hand. I had equipped both my swords in my hands with a reverse grip. As soon as Ozpin finished his speech, I saw Mark fly, followed quickly by the rest of us.

Flying is an interesting experience. At first you feel a sense of weightlessness, as though you could go on forever. After that feeling comes a flip in your stomach as your center of gravity changes, and you begin to fall. I angled my body to the right, and spread my body out to create as much drag as possible. When I was close to the tree line, I tucked my body in, and prepared for impact.

I hit the tree tops, and felt the leaves and branches scratch against me. My swords reached out and hooked into the bark of a tree. I slowed down quickly. Too quickly, evidenced by my shoulder making a popping sound and my momentum stopping and my sword dropping from my left hand.

I pulled my right sword from the tree, and fell the last fifty feet to the forest floor. "GAAAAA!" I rolled as I landed, hurting my left arm in the process. I laid my back against the tree I fell from, and unzipped my jacket. I carefully took the arms from my jacket off, unwrapped my bandage, and assessed the damage.

My left arm hung loosely by my side, and all over both arms were scratches, some the size of my pinky, others as long as four inches. Luckily, none of them were very deep, but I could feel them over my whole body. My outfit was in tatters, barely hanging on. I decided to leave my jacket unzipped as I moved to find the others. I grabbed my other sword, and sheathed it. I doubted I would be able to use it today.

My movements were slowed, and this caused me to take precautions in traversing the forest. Thankfully, I knew where safe trails were, so I stuck to those. Walking with a limp arm is harder than I had thought. My balance was not only screwed up, but I also couldn't move any branches out of the way from the left side. I continued to walk on the paths until I heard voices ahead of me.

"Do you think the relics might be in here Pyrrha?" I heard Jaune ask. I moved past the foliage to see both Jaune and Pyrrha talking in front of a cave opening. On the walls surrounding the opening, were red drawings of people fighting a Deathstalker. I made my presence known by telling them what I thought of that cave. "No Jaune, they aren't in there. They are to the left."

Just as I finished talking, Pyrrha had turned around and had her weapons in her hands, while Jaune had just spun around. I raised my right arm in a sign of peace, and Pyrrha lowered her weapons. "Hey Devin, what's up? Do you have a partner yet?" Jaune asked me.

"Nope. You're the first people I've run into," I explained to him. I looked to Pyrrha, and saw a look of concern on her face as she walked towards me. "Umm, Devin, was it, what happened to your arm?" she asked as she pointed to me left arm. "It became dislocated when I landed in the forest." Her face morphed to one of confusion, "But why didn't your aura protect you?"

I debated on telling her, but decided that it wouldn't matter much. It would come out sooner or later anyway. "I don't have my aura unlocked yet. I was hoping that I wouldn't get any injury like this today," I said. She looked down, before her face lit up "Well, I know how to set limbs, so I can put it back in place if you want." "That would be great," I replied.

"Good," she said as she smiled. "I just need you to take off your jacket so I can set it." I gripped my jacket, unwilling to take it off. "I'll take off the sleeve, but nothing else, got it?" Her smile dimmed, but she agreed nonetheless. "Jaune, I need you to help me, alright?" she looked to him, and he jumped when he was addressed. "Yeah, sure Pyrrha. No problem."

Pyrrha had me lay on my back, with Jaune at my head, and her at my arm. She had Jaune hold my head still, and to put the handle of his sword in my mouth. I bit down, and shook my head to start. Pyrrha then pulled my arm slowly, and then gave it a sharp yank. "MMMMMMMHHHHHHH" I screamed through the handle as the pain hit me. She let go of my arm, and had Jaune help me sit up.

I moved the sword from my mouth, and tested my arm. It ached and throbbed as it moved, but it was better than before. I put my jacket arm back on, and stood up. "Thank you Pyrrha, and you too, Jaune." Jaune looked embarrassed at the thanks. Oppositely, Pyrrha beamed at my comment. "You are quite welcome Devin!" she said cheerily.

I reached down to my sheathes, and drew my swords. Unfortunately, even though my shoulder was reset, it could barely hold up the sword. I sheathed both my swords and moved in the direction of the ruins. "Here, follow me. The relics are this way," I said, making my way to the temple. I heard Pyrrha and Jaune fall into step behind me.

We didn't talk much on the way there, not that there was much to converse about. When we got to the temple, there were already a few people there. Half of team RWBY, in the form of Yang and Blake, and the rest of my group.

" _GET HIM READY. I'M SURE HE'LL REC... ...IM. SAY HI TO SHUKA... FOR ME … … SEE HI…"_

It was that voice again, but this time it was a shout. I reverberated inside my head, and it disoriented me. I grabbed my head and closed my eyes, and the uneasiness passed. I felt a hand on my shoulder. Pyrrha was looking at me with wide eyes, "Are you OK Devin?" she asked me as I lowered my hand. I shook my head and told her I was fine. She didn't look like she believed me, but she didn't argue.

I cupped my hands together, and moved them to my mouth, "JAMES, STEVEN, MARK! SITREP!" I shouted to them as we came closer. Everyone turned towards us. The boys moved towards me as I made a few hand signals. _Quiet. Withhold. Explain._

All of us boys are multi-lingual. At our high school, they offered four different foreign languages. German, Russian, Spanish, and sign language. The reason for sign language was that there were quite a few deaf people in our community, so the school offered that as a course. Each of us took a class, and we taught each other the languages. The signs I had made were quick ways to communicate what we could verbally communicate in English. The signs meant to stay quiet, only tell vital information, and to explain what had happened to them.

As we met halfway, they began to tell me what happened. Apparently, James and Steven landed close together. The had met up and headed to the ruins. Mark had landed further from the relics than us, so he took longer. On the way, he met up with Yang and Blake, and walked with them to the temple. They had tried to milk him for information on me, but he gave none. I thanked him for that, and we all walked to the relics, and we picked a chess piece. James and Steven got a white pawn, as did Mark and I.

With our pieces gathered, we turned back to the other groups and converged with them. When we got there, I heard a small flapping sound. I brushed it off as a bird, except it let getting louder. I looked left and right, but couldn't find the source. The sound got louder, and I looked to the final place I hadn't already. Up. I saw a giant Nevermore flying in the sky, and hanging from its claws were two dots. One red and one blue. It turned in the sky, flapped its wings, and the red dot fell from its talons.

I saw Ruby falling from the sky. It was fine. Jaune would come flying in to save her. Except…

My eyes widened as I had taken away Ruby's cushion from falling. In saving Jaune and Pyrrha from going into the cave, I had stopped Jaune from catching her with his body. I needed to move now!

Quickly, I grabbed a green D-Cig and lit it. I began to smoke it as fast as I could. _Breathe. Hold. Blow._ I kept this routine up for ten seconds, and I felt that I had enough dust to do what I needed. I threw the butt to the ground, and lit my lighter once again. "What are you doing?" I heard Yang ask to my side. I didn't have time to answer. I took as deep a breath as I could, and blew the dust into the lighter flame.

A torrent of green wind escaped my mouth. It reached Ruby within a second, and it slowed her descent, but not enough. I kept blowing until I ran out of both dust and breath. She wasn't slowed down enough, she was barely under terminal velocity. I had to save her! "Ruby! I'm coming," Yang shouted, but I was faster. I had already tensed myself, and I jumped as high as I could. I jumped about twenty feet into the air, and caught her. I angled my body so that I would hit first.

I felt my back SMACK into the ground, before I bounced. Every bone in my body rattled from the hit. We bounced three more times, before rolling to a stop. My arms were locked around Ruby, so she was unable to get up. My teeth clenched in an attempt to stop my screams.

"Ruby! Are you OK?" Yang asked as she ran up to us. "Y-yeah Yang. I'm fine," Ruby replied shakily. I slowly let go of her, and she stood up. I tried to do the same, but a sharp pain and a crack in my leg stopped me. "NNNGGGHHH," I screamed through gritted teeth as my leg gave out beneath me.

"Thank Oum you're alright Ruby. What were you thinking!? Why were you falling from the sky?" Yang asked Ruby, completely ignoring me, as did Blake. My team was by my side just a second later than Yang. "Devin, can you move?" Steven asked as he reached me. "Shut up you fuckstick. He needs to stay put. Without aura, there's no way he's doing hot," James yelled at Steven.

"What! No aura? Then why would he jump to save Ruby so readily?" Yang demanded. Her eyes flickered red as she tried to digest the situation. "Because, someone needed help, so I had to do something. Also, I owe her mom two favors, and now I've used one," I explained once I regained my breath.

"You knew my mother?" Ruby asked with wonder. I looked to the sky, and saw that the Nevermore that had dropped her, was circling back. It would soon drop Weiss too. I looked to James and said in German, "James. Ich hielt Jaune davon ab, in eine Höhle zu gehen. Dabei weiß ich nicht, wie Weiss fallen wird. Teleportiere dort oben und bring sie hierher. Sicher." (James. I kept Jaune from going to the cave. I do not know how Weiss will fare if she falls. Teleport up there and bring her back here. Safety) I looked him dead in the eyes, and he shook his head and replied, In Ordnung." (Alright)

He closed his eyes and concentrated. For a few seconds, he simply breathed in and out. Then, he snapped them open, his pupils constricted, and he was gone in a purple flash. I let go of a breath I didn't know I was holding. This action alone caused me to curl up in pain.

"Oh my gosh Devin, we need to get you back to Beacon," Ruby said with worry. I looked down, and thought about our situation. My leg was most likely broken, and I was covered in bruises and cuts. Mark and Steven were tired, even if they tried to hide it. We needed to recuperate and go. But I wasn't moving without help. "No Ruby, I just need someone to unlock my aura. After that, we can move out and return the relics." If aura worked the way it was shown, then most of my superficial wounds should heal, and then I could walk, albeit with some difficulty.

Ruby had a look of contemplation in her face, before she relied with, "I'll do it. It's my fault you're hurt, so I'll unlock your aura," she said with finality. "Thank you," I said softly, barely a whisper. "It's alright. That's what friends are for," she smiled.

"Now wait just a minute. I'm not just going to let Ruby unlock your aura," Yang jumped in. Her face gained a devious smile as she said, "If you tell us what secrets you say you know, I'll let her." My eyes hardened, and my face became a stone wall. At a time like this, she was going to extort a comrade? Fine. I didn't need this.

"Mark, Steven. Lass uns gehen. Lass sie zurück. Wir gingen zurück nach Beacon. Hilf mir auf, (Mark, Steven. Let's go. Leave them behind. We're going back to Beacon. Help me) I told them in German. They looked shocked, before they agreed and helped me up. "Devin, where are you going? You're hurt. We need to help you!" Ruby exclaimed in shock. I turned towards her, and explained what I thought of her help. "I don't need help from you or your sister," I said calmly. I was hoping by doing this, she would leave me be. I really did need her help, but I didn't want to cause a rift between them.

As Yang was about to say something, James flashed back, with his hand on Weiss' shoulder. I quickly got James' attention and told him we were going, and it was by ourselves. James nodded and we began to move. "Hey, wait, where are you going?" Yang asked us. I motioned for Mark and Steven to stop. "I'm going back to Beacon. I need medical attention, and you have refused to allow Ruby to perform said treatment. We. Are. Leaving." and with that said, we resumed moving.

I heard movement behind us, and Ruby yelled, "Wait! I don't care what Yang says, you need help, so I'm going to help you. Yang might have forgot what Summer taught us, but I didn't." I looked back. Ruby's face was resolute. She wasn't budging at all. Behind her, Yang's face was filled with shame. Blake was beside her, her hand on her shoulder, while Weiss was behind Ruby, confused as to the tone of the situation.

"Ruby, thank you," I said with sincerity, and a softened face. She smiled, and moved up to me. She had me stand up, with the help of Mark, and placed her left hand over my heart, and her right was on my belly button. After she finished adjusting her hands, she began to chant.

"For it is in happiness we achieve immortality. Through this, we become an image of joy and love to smile among others. Infinite in care and unbound by hate, I give you my smile, and by my shoulder, lighten thee."

I felt a warmth spread throughout my body. My entire body shook with energy as her aura seeped into me. I felt her aura creep through me, until it reached a wall. Then, I felt it move back, but it pulled something with it. Suddenly, Ruby's aura yanked itself back, and a new energy surged through me.

My body was covered in a bright silver aura that contrasted the muted grey colors that I wore. I felt my scratches heal, and even my leg felt stronger. I stared at my hands for a solid minute, contemplating this new discovery. My eyes widened when my arms started to pulse under the bandages, and I smirked. The pulsing meant my experiment was a success.

"Woah, so that is aura? Sign me up too, please," Steven commented behind me. "What! Neither of you had aura before coming here! What is wrong with you?" Weiss yelled from behind me when she understood what was going on. We all turned to face her, and Mark said, "Actually, none of us had our aura unlocked," He swept his hands back and forth, pointing to all us world travelers.

"Then why would Ozpin let you into his school?" Weiss wondered aloud. She looked to me for answers, but I had none. My mind whirled to find a response, and then it hit me. I knew what I could do to turn this my way.

 _SMASH_

"Aww, it's broken," a female voice said behind me. In the clearing was a girl on top of an Ursa, and beside her was a man wearing green clothes. So, Nora and Ren had arrived. They seemed to take longer than in the show, but it didn't matter much. Nora ran to the ruins, and grabbed a piece. "I'm queen of the castle. I'm queen of the castle," she said in a sing-song voice. Ren approached the group and grabbed Nora to calm her down.

"Weiss, you wanted to know why Ozpin let me in early, right?" She nodded in affirmation. I took a breath, and explained why. "It's the same reason he let Ruby in. Because of our eyes. Our silver eyes."

All eyes snapped to me. Their stares were burning, but I continued. "You see, there are stories passed through generations of how those with silver eyes could slay Grimm with a single look. Because of this, they have been killed and we are nearly extinct. As far as I know, Ruby and I are the last of our kind. "

"Enough of the history lesson. Yang, you said that you wanted to know what secrets I knew about you girls, right? I'll tell you if you unlock the other's auras." I gave Yang and the others an ultimatum. She contemplated, before agreeing, as did Blake and Weiss. Yang approached James, Blake went to Mark, and Weiss walked up to Steven.

Yang began to chant once her hands were on James' chest. "For it is in emotion we achieve immortality. Through this, we become followers of adventure and thrill to seek all. Infinite in excitement and unbound by land, I ignite your heart, and by my flame, embolden thee."

Blake followed suit. "For it is in peace we achieve immortality. Through this, we become beacons of hope and justice to rise above abhorrence. Infinite in patience and unbound by race, I pester your heart, and by my hand, embrace thee."

Finally, was Weiss. "For it is in freedom we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a symbol of flight and power to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by class, I unlock your cage, and by my shoulder, liberate thee."

James, Steven, and Mark were covered in purple, rusty red, and black auras respectively. Once that was done, I addressed the girls. "Yang, I know why your mom left you. Blake, I know what you are, and what you left. Weiss, I know what happens in your home, and how your dad acts. And Ruby, I know what happened to your mom."

All the girls were in a daze. The information dump had startled them. As they were recovering, a thunderous screech was heard. At the same time, a black mass exploded from the trees. It was the Nevermore and the Deathstalker. I quickly moved into action.

"Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang! Move to the Nevermore and take it out! Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, Ren. Go for the Deathstalker. James and Mark, back up Ruby's group. Steven and I …" before I could finish, the ground began to shake. It started to crack and a black, grainy thing punched through.

I heard the voice again, but this time, it was clear. _**"GET HIM READY. I'M SURE HE'LL RECOGNIZE HIM. SAY HI TO SHUKAKU FOR ME WHEN YOU SEE HIM"**_

It continued to flow from the earth, until it was about the size of three Ursas. Its base was a pure black, with blood red runes linked together that ran all over its body, but left its stomach bare. The substance then began to settle into finer details. Its face was that of a dog, but it had a white plate with the same red runes on it. It also had a distended belly, and it had a tail. Its tail was bushy and filled to bursting with spikes.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT FUCKING THING!"

 **ENDING NOTES:**

 **Yay! I was worried I wouldn't get this done. Thankfully I did, and I think it turned out OK. Next chapter, you can expect a fight with Shukaku. For reference, look up Shukaku, and then imagine the brown sand black, and the runes, red. Also, for the translations, I used Google as I don't speak any of them. So, I'm sorry if they don't come out clean. Anyway, have a good day everyone! Peace.**


	6. A Lesson in Victory and Defeat

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

 **Hey guys, CanEvenCookEgg here. This is going to be a shorter chapter. But don't worry, the next one will be longer. Also, this is the first fight scene I had to pace, so let me know how it flows in those dang ol' reviews, should you feel obliged.**

 **GamehunterMC: Thank you for the review and it really depends on the chapter and the story.**

 **A Change in Perspective**

 **Chapter 6: A Lesson in Victory and Defeat**

Wind rushed past my face as I barely dodged a black fist that shot at me. I rolled to the left to put distance between me and the monster. When I was far enough away, I glanced up. What I saw still confused me. It was a tanuki made of pitch black sand. Across its body lay red markings. It has an enormous belly, and on its face, it wore a bone mask.

What had me stumped, is the fact that it is obviously Shukaku from Naruto, but the colors were all wrong, and it was only a tenth of its normal size.

I stood up, and my leg groaned in protest. When my aura had activated, it only healed my leg to the point where it was now only slightly painful to walk on instead of excruciatingly. Looking around the battlefield, I could see James flashing from place to place, trying to find a weak spot. Steven and Mark were keeping its attention, while I tried to think of a plan.

I raised my swords in preparation of my next move. I just needed an opening, and Mark gave me that. Shukaku's fist barreled towards him, and he jumped in the air to avoid it, and Shukaku's fist became buried in the earth. I knew this would last long, but it would be enough. I sprinted towards its arm, and began to run up it.

I was halfway up when I felt something impede my progress. It slithered up my legs, and I looked down. Sand from its arm was snaking up my body, slowly trapping me. I slashed at the sand and it broke easily. This was another thing I've noticed. The sand is rather dense and strong, but the surface layer is soft and malleable. After cutting my way out, I continued to run. Intermittently, I was forced to cut myself free.

Once I reached its neck, I evaluated what was here. I cursed when it was revealed that the sand here was the same as everywhere else. I slid down its back to the forest floor. It seemed impossible to beat it. How do you defeat something comprised of a substance that retained no damage? I racked my brain to think of anything that I remember from the anime to defeat him, but I drew a blank. There was no Gaara here to wake up.

"James, regroup at the back of Shukaku. We need to form a plan," I called to him. In a few seconds James appeared by my side in a purple flash. He looked worse for wear. His clothes were hanging loosely and he looked exhausted. He panted as he caught his breath before speaking, "Alright, Devin. What ideas do you have for killing this shit head?" he asked me desperately.

I closed my eyes and thought about what we know about our opponent. It was made of a sandy substance that we have been unable to damage permanently. Also, it seemed its sand could move independently and automatically. It was made of sand, and sand became heavier when wet. And water conducted electricity….

"James, I need you to help Mark and Steven distract it. Give me five minutes, and I'll be ready." I then explained my plan. It would need exact precision, or it wouldn't work.

 **JAMES POV**

I ran back to where Mark and Steven were attacking the sand Grimm. It irked me that we're having so much trouble with the beast. So far, we had been able to breeze through other Grimm, so failing here pissed me off. I banished those thoughts from my mind. I needed to help Devin start his plan. I shouted to Steven when he was in eyesight, "Alright, Steven I need you to listen. You and Mark are going to unload everything you have on this thing for as long as you can."

He paused after I was done, and asked me why he needed to do this, and as to what I would be doing in the meantime. I grabbed a bag that Devin had given me, and showed him what was inside. The contents were a dozen and a half black and purple marbles. "These are dust balls or so Devin says. They should explode upon contact, and he's hoping that the gravity distortion will screw with this fucker's density or something similar. I'm not good with science."

Steven took a second to check his ammo situation, before replying to me. "I can do that James, but only for a minute. I'm almost out of shells," he said apologetically. This was not good news. "Dammit! Just relay the message to Mark while I light this thing brighter than a hillbilly reunion."

With the first part of the plan done, I left to find an angle to hit the Grimm that would do the most damage. I chose its right side, and grabbed a ball. It felt just like a grape in my hand, soft and squishy, but also solid. I hiked my hand back, and adopted a pitcher's stance.

"It's the bottom of the ninth. The score is 9-8 with team James in the lead. This will be the last pitch of the game with two outs, three balls, two strikes, and loaded bases." My hand tensed, and I lifted my leg. "Here he goes. He prepares the pitch," I threw it as hard as I could. "It flies straight and over home plate," the ball hit the Grimm on its arm, and nothing happened. "And James has had the god damn rug pulled out from under him," I said dejectedly as I realized that Devin's plan may not work anymore.

I reached for my knife to prepare to give Devin the time he needed, no matter what, when a small distortion appeared on the Grimm's arm. A purple energy began to manifest and swirl. It slowly grew to the size of a small dog, and then, twisted in on itself. Sand from the surrounding area began to be pulled towards the anomaly. More and more sand was pulled in until the distortion stopped, and a giant chunk of sand fell from the beast's arm.

It was silent for a second, and then an ear-splitting roar sounded from the Grimm. It roared and roared as it began to swing its arms wildly. I grinned when I saw my efforts bear fruit. I quickly ran around the Grimm and threw all the remaining balls at it. Once I was done, the Grimm looked more like Swiss cheese than anything deadly. Now that I was done throwing the dust balls, I started to retreat, but the Grimm saw me and it failed its arms in an attempt to hit me.

I ducked under one, only to be hit by it on a return swing. My body flew through the air until I hit a tree. I felt something crack inside of me, but I felt no pain. Exhaustion swept through my body and I closed my eyes. _"Sorry Devin. You guys are gonna have to beat this asshole on your own,"_ was the last thought I had, before everything went blank.

 **Devin POV**

 **(Begin Playing "The Picture by Hollow Point Heroes")**

My lungs burned as I finished the last of my water D-Cigs. They felt heavy and full, and I wanted to breathe but I had to hold it in. The sounds of fighting had slowed, so I made my way back to the battleground. What I saw changed my view of the world we were in forever.

Mark was slouched over his gun, his body still. To the left, I saw James curled up against a tree, though I could see a slight movement from him. And to my right was Steven, barely dodging attacks from Shukaku.

I ran as fast as I could to Steven and grabbed him. I threw him over my shoulder and got out of Shukaku's eyesight. I set him down and used sign language to tell him what I was going to do. He tried to protest, but I refused to hear him.

My lungs burned from lack of oxygen when as I walked behind Shukaku. I took as deep a breath in as I could. I filled my lungs more than I ever had before, and blew out a torrent of blue dust. Shukaku turned around clumsily when the dust settled onto its sand. I took a lighter from my pocket, and grabbed my belt.

Shukaku raised its fist, and it shot out at me. I began dodging and weaving the attacks, all the while, I moved my D-Cigs into one satchel. Once that was done, I tied it closed and placed a fire cigarette as a fuse leading into the improvised explosive device.

I lit the D-Cig, and it slowly burned. I stared into Shukaku's eyes. I waited until the cigarette was mostly burned, before I started to swing it. Sand swirled from Shukaku's form, and tendrils of sand shot towards me. I threw my bomb at Shukaku just before the sand slammed into me. I heard an explosion, and then a gigantic splash as I was thrown into the ground by the sand constructs.

Once I was able to catch my breath, I slowly stood up. Looking in the direction of Shukaku, I saw a mass of black mud with red blotches in it. It quivered and shuddered, moans coming from it. _"It's time to see if my excitement was a success,"_ I thought to myself. I pulled off my jacket and unwrapped my bandages.

On the tops of both of my arms were two identical symbols. It was a line that split into three lines, the middle having a small dot at the end. The outside lines were bent at the middle and pointed back to the center. My right arm's mark was yellow, and my left was colored red.

Gathering up all my strength, I rushed past the mud mass and prepared the final part of my plan. I removed my wood bracers, and I closed my eyes. I heard footsteps behind me, and I turned to look. It was both team RWBY and JNPR. "We heard an explosion. Are you guys OK?" Ruby asked me, and I remained silent. "Devin?" Ruby looked at me with a worried look, "They are fine, right?"

I turned around and began the preparation for my final move. I felt deep inside of myself, as deep as I could, and felt something warm, but cold at the same time. I pulled on that feeling and directed that to my right arm. The mark there began to spark, and a brilliant light shone from it. "Nora, I need you on standby. In case something goes wrong, understand?" I said without looking back. "You got it! But where are the rest of the boys?" Nora asked in response, but again I gave none.

I slowly started to walk towards Shukaku, quickly gaining speed as my arm shone brighter and brighter. Soon I was sprinting as fast as I could. This _thing_ had hurt my friends. I wouldn't let it do that without consequences. My aura exploded around me, and I ran faster. It turned its head towards me, and it pitifully roared. I screamed in response and, when I was right in front of it, I threw a punch with all my strength. A giant explosion of light radiated from Shukaku.

My entire body was filled with electricity, but I had done it. Looking up, I saw a giant dirt sculpture. With shaky hands, I pointed my fingers in a gun shape at it, and pulled back, "Bang," I said as it began to crumble. It fell to the ground in giant chunks that slowly evaporated. "Devin!" I heard my name shouted behind me. Nora was running up to me, and I stood up on unsteady legs. When she got in front of me, I grabbed her hand, and a massive amount of stored electricity in my body transferred to me.

"Nora, no!" Jaune yelled as he shoved me away. She shook in place as the electricity was slowly absorbed into her. "Wait, what?" was Jaune's highly intelligent question. I stood up, using my swords as a handhold. "Don't worry Jaune, her semblance allows her to absorb electricity. She'll be fine," I told him as the others arrived. They began to yell and ask what was going on, but I moved to the left.

"Devin, where are Steven, Mark, and James? Are they OK?" Yang asked me. "James and Steven are ok. I'm checking on Mark now." I searched for him, and found him sprawled on the ground in front of Shukaku's ruble. I bent down, and pushed my pointer and middle fingers into the doe of his neck, and was rewarded with a soft, but steady pulse. "Everyone's OK. Help me get them back to-" my voice left me before I could finish. A searing pain went through my chest and I was frozen. Looking down, I saw a small black spear of some kind of liquid poking through my chest.

"DEVIN!" I heard someone yell, but I couldn't tell what was happening. I tried to move, but my body refused to comply. The tendril split into six pieces that bent backwards and were jabbed into my chest. Blood flowed from my mouth, and I fell to my knees. I couldn't breathe. Why can't I breathe? What's happening? Why can't I move? What are those noises? What had happened to me? Why can't I BREATHE!

 _Beep._

 _Beep._

 _Beep._

 _Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee._

"We're losing him! Get me the defibrillator. All clear."

 _Click. Shock. Slam._

 _Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee._

"Raise the voltage to two hundred joules. All clear."

 _Click. Shock. Slam._

 **Mark's POV**

We all sat and waited for more news on Devin. On either side of me were the members of team RWBY and JNPR, and James and Steven. After Devin had fallen unconscious, we had moved as fast as we could to get him back to Beacon. Thankfully, they had a fully working hospital wing there. When we had arrived, we were told that he would be put into surgery, and that we wouldn't be able to follow.

Ever since then, they have given us very little information, and it was making us edgy. "What I want to know is, why the fuck those bastards won't give in any god damn answers!" James yelled. He'd been yelling and cursing for the last few minutes. "James! Stop cursing in front of Ruby," Yang kept admonishing him. He would blow her off, and we would sit in silence again.

Looking at everyone here, most had looks of worry across their faces. Though, both Weiss and Blake seemed indifferent, and James was angry, but I could hear the sadness in his voice. Ruby had cried all the way here, and Nora was silent. Yang was flexing her hands, and staring into her lap. Ren was stoic, but he had expressed his concern over Devin. Pyrrha was trying to comfort Jaune, while he thought the situation was his fault. He had an idea in his head that he could have helped, but we all knew that was impossible. None of us saw what happened coming.

I still felt useless. I had done nothing but be that _things_ punching bag, and when Devin needed help, none of us were there for him. I had only woken up a minute after Devin had been attacked, and the others were crowded around him. Apparently, some black thing had attacked him, but no one had any idea where it had gone.

Wanting a distraction, I looked around the room we were in. The room was a plain white color, with a row of chairs lining the wall, which we sat on. In between every four chairs, was a small table with flowers on it. The floor was covered by a muted cream-colored carpet. In front of us was the reception counter, and two nurses worked there.

The sound of a door opening sounded to our left, and I looked there. Out walked a doctor with a clipboard in hand. "Which one of you is Mr. Crimson?" the doctor asked. Steven stood up and walked to the doctor. He talked with him for a minute, and nodded his head. After that, he walked towards us and the doctor left the room.

"So, what's happening with Devin? Is he going to be OK?" Ruby asked. Steven sighed and rubbed his face. "He has lost a lot of blood, and he needs a transfusion within the next few hours, or he won't make it," Steven replied. James jumped up and began to yell again, "And why haven't they done that already? Tell them to hurry the fuck up and do it!" Steven looked to the ground, and took a minute to reply. "Something is wrong, isn't it? Why can't they give him blood?" Blake asked, shocking me as she had been silent until now.

"It's his blood type. His blood type is AB-, and no one at Beacon has that type. Not only that, but a shipment of blood will take too long. Devin isn't going to make it guys. I'm sorry," Steven said, his voice wavering towards the end. I was stunned silent. Devin was going to die? This couldn't be happening. I couldn't lose someone else close to me. Not again.

"What do you mean he's gonna die you fuck! I'm going to tell those mother fuckers what I think of that," James screamed as he stood up. He began to walk towards the door before Ren spoke up. "Wait. Don't do anything rash. As potential students, they won't have our records. So, do any of us have that blood type?" he asked everyone there. All of us confirmed that we hadn't. All except Weiss.

"Do you have that blood type Weiss?" I asked her, getting close. She stopped determined not to answer, but eventually she caved. "Fine. Yes, I do, but why should I give it away to a faunus or a colorless? Besides, what has he done for me?" she asked me with disgust. Before I could respond, I was roughly shoved aside, and James took my place. He grabbed her by her dress and slammed her into the wall. "Why? WHY? Someone is going to die, and you need a reason?" he screamed at her, and she reached for her weapon. "And as for what he did for you, he told me to go to the Nevermore and save you. Without him, you'd be a splatter on the ground," James countered with venom in his voice.

After we arrived at the hospital, and Devin was sent for surgery, I was told of the other teams finding out about Devin being a faunus. The reception was mostly warm, but Weiss, and surprisingly Blake, have been quiet since learning that fact. Weiss has seemed angry, but Blake looked to be more shocked than anything. Though, the colorless insult was new to me.

Weiss looked down, and her team came to her aide. James let go and stormed back to his seat. Team RWBY tried to cheer up Weiss, but she remained in a state of shock. I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the back of my chair. This whole incident was taking its toll on us. I could only hope Devin pulled through. Not just for his sake, but for all of us.

 **ENDING NOTES:**

 **Alright. This chapter feels subpar to me, but I don't know what to do with it. I've rewritten parts, and I think I got it to where I want it, but I still don't like it. Definitely want to do better next time. Also, the mark on Devin's arm is the hunter's mark from Bloodborne. Lastly, after this week, I plan on changing my upload day to Monday. Enough of my rambling, have a good day everyone. Bye**


	7. Chapter 7 Fight or Fright

**Well, here we are, chapter 7. Enjoy!**

 **A Change in Perspective**

 **Chapter 7: Fight or Fright**

Waking up in a desert is not a very pleasant feeling. Your neck is stiff, you back cracks when you sit up, and sand is everywhere. This is what I opened my eyes to. Blinking to get used to the harsh sun, I stood up. After brushing the sand from my outfit, I cracked my neck from side to side. Reaching to my hips, I found my weapons to still be there.

Surveying my surroundings, I found nothing to stand out from the dull tan sands. I decided to walk to the left, as it still hasn't failed me yet. I walked and walked over countless dunes, and I started to sweat profusely. I took off my grey jacket and laid it in the sands. There was no need to keep it with me as I had no idea where I was, nor how soon I would find something familiar. Under my jacket I wore a white t-shirt with a cross necklace dangling from my chest.

The cross had a pure white base with black detailing and designs on it. Covering the cross were multiple spirals and swirls interconnecting and covering the piece. The horizontal bar was three inches and the vertical was five. It was an inch thick, and was hung by a silver ball chain.

After removing my jacket, I continued to walk forward. Still, only sand greeted my eyes. After a few hours of walking, I finally saw something to contrast the harsh sand, but it was not a sight I wanted to see.

Towering over even the tallest sand dunes were skyscrapers at least eight stories high, and there were dozens of them. Around the buildings was pavement and roads that intersected and connected to form roadways. It was a sight I remembered vividly, as I had been there not even a year ago.

"What is this place? Why is this here?" I asked aloud, not expecting a response, but getting one anyway. A loud, booming, though not in a threatening way, voice echoed throughout the landscape. "THIS IS YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS CHILD. THIS PLACE REPRESENTS WHAT YOU KNOW, AND WHAT YOU FEEL, EVEN IF YOU DO NOT KNOW IT YOURSELF," it said. I scanned left and right, but found nothing.

"Who are you? What do you want?" I asked to the voice. In front of me, the sand began to rise and twist to form a familiar shape, one that prompted me to pull my swords in a defensive stance. It was Shukaku again, but this time, it was the size of a husky. It also had no bone playing on its body and was back to its original color pallet.

"Do not be alarmed young one. My earlier form was made by force rather than will. I refuse to look like that again," Shukaku said, this time with a normal volume. I studied its words and judged them to be true. _"Now I just need to find out what it wants, and I'll formulate a plan with that information,"_ I thought to myself with narrowed eyes. "And stop calling me it. I am a male you know," Shukaku said after my thought.

Shock went through me as I realized the implications of "his" statement. He could read my mind. I took a step back in fear, and looked to my hands. They were shaking. Why hadn't the emotion left me? What is wrong with me? "Nothing is wrong child. You are simply feeling your raw emotions. As I said, this place is what you feel, so you cannot hide your emotions here," he said to me.

Hide my emotions? Hide them? This bastard thought I wanted to hide them! "Listen here you sandy fuck! I want my emotions but they never stay! I want to feel, but I never can, so you just fuck right the hell off!" I yelled at Shukaku. He looked at me with golden eyes that had a diamond pupil, and around the pupils were four black dots. "You need to calm yourself. You are becoming overwhelmed with these new sensations and they are controlling you. You need to reign them in," he said while coming closer to me.

Anger at being told what to do ran through me, before I squashed it. I clamped my teeth together and forced myself to calm down. Controlling my emotions was harder than I expected. Eventually, I called down enough to talk. "Why am I feeling them now, and not before?" I asked the one who seemed to know more about emotions than me. "They are still fleeting to your waking self, but here, they run free. This is your mind, and what you want happens," he replied calmly.

The thought of having free range of reality was enticing, but I needed answers to two questions. "Fine then. That I can believe. But I need to know. Why are you in my head, and what happened to me to make my consciousness come here?" I asked him.

"I'm here because a being, much stronger than myself, forced me here and made me take the form of that monster. It said that I was to be your test, and that more would be coming," Shukaku spoke. I took a moment to digest the information, before asking him a question, "The month leading up to our battle, I've felt anger more readily, and more powerful than ever before. Do you know why?"

"All I know, is that the being told me that each test would unlock something for you, and now it seems that will be emotions." I closed my eyes in thought. What could this mean? Why would something be after me? I'm not native to this world, so it can't be from Remnant. I needed more information to make a theory as to why. I then realized he didn't answer one of my questions. "You left out why I was here, so tell me if you know."

Shukaku took a moment to look at me before replying. "Right now, your body is in a state of limbo, barely hanging on to life. It seems, from what I've heard, you will not live through the day," he said.

My whole body froze. I was going to die? I looked to my hands and they were shaking, along with my whole body. I fell to the sand and stared in shock. "So this is it, huh? I'm going to die before changing anything? I guess that's life. She's just waiting to knock you down from your high," I said aloud.

Something wet fell onto my face. I looked to the sky, but saw no rain. My face was soaked, but it was clear outside. What was going on? "You're crying Devin. You're sad that you're dying," Shukaku said. Was I?

I reached to wipe my face, but the wetness persisted. I guess I was.

"Devin, there is a way for you to live," Shukaku said. I snapped my eyes to him, and stood up in a flash. "Then tell me! I don't want to die here! HELP ME!" I desperately screamed at him. He moved closer to me, and spoke again. "In order for this to work, I need you to trust me. I need you to bump fists with me, and accept my power."

"You, you want me to become you jinchuuriki? Why?" I asked him. He sighed, "Someone asked me to help you, so I will. That's as far as this goes Devin," he replied. I nodded my head, collected myself, and walked to him. I held out my fist to him, and he bumped it. I felt an incredible power flow through me, inside of me. I felt it well up, and I felt amazing. Then the pain set in.

I felt my body heat , and then it started to burn. The power was too much. I could feel it trying to find a way out of me. The last thing I felt before passing out was a hand being placed on my head, and a dog voice saying, _"Don't worry, everything will be fine."_

" _Thank you Weiss. Today, you helped save a young man's life."_

" _I don't need thanks, any huntsman would have done the same."_

" _It looks like he'll pull through, sir." "Good."_

" _Sir, there is a gigantic amount of aura radiating from Mr. Ash. We need to contain it!"_

" _The doors are jammed! What's going on?"_

" _There's sand blocking the door."_

" _I'm sorry, there's nothing we can do now, but wait."_

 **LINE BREAK**

"Ughh," I moaned as I woke up once again. I opened my eyes, and saw nothing but blackness. It was too dark for me too see, and that meant I was in a space with no light. You see, saying faunus have night vision, is a little misleading. A faunus can see in low light conditions, because our pupils will dilate until we can see. But with no light, there was nothing for me to see with.

I reached my hand down, and felt a sheet. Shifting my body to the side, I found I was laying on something raised, most likely a bed. I stood from my resting place, and felt uneven ground. I reached down, and felt something coarse and grainy. It was sand. This was definitely not what I was expecting to wake up to.

I moved around until I found a wall. Touching it, I found that it too was sand. I flexed my hand, and my claws came out. Rearing back, I slashed at the sand with all my strength, and I tore through easily. Immediately after my swipe, I heard a cracking sound. It came from all around me, and it was deafening. After a few seconds of cracking, the sand around me shattered, and I was assaulted with light.

"What the…" I covered my eyes with my arms, as they slowly adjusted. One they were done adjusting, I could see more clearly. The light came from a door in front of me. Moving towards it, I began to hear footsteps and voices. I walked out of the door to see nurses and doctors rushing towards me.

"Mr. Ash, are you alright? Are you light headed at all?" a doctor with greying brown hair asked me. He had a very gruff and aged voice that only came from smokers. "No, I'm fine," I replied in monotone. I looked down at myself, and saw a hospital gown. So I must have been hurt ad bad as Shukaku said. "What happened to me?" I asked the hospital staff assembled before me, but I got a response from someone else. "That is what I would like to know."

Turning to face the direction of the voice, I saw Ozpin, mug and cane in hand. He stared at me intently with his brown eyes, and I narrowed mine in response. They didn't know? "What do you know?" I asked Ozpin. "We know that you were gravely injured by a new Grimm during initiation, but not the specifics. So, would you care to fill is in?" he asked.

"Ozpin, this is highly unethical. Mr. Ash needs time to recuperate and rest before he can answer any questions," the doctor said to Ozpin. Ozpin stared down the doctor, but he kept his ground and gazed back just as heatedly. "If you think that is best, then so be it. We will have this talk at a later date, Devin. Have a good rest in the meantime," Ozpin finally said, and walked away.

"Follow me, Mr. Ash. I'll take you to a new room. Also, my name is doctor Wolfe. Pleased to meet you," the doctor said. "Hello, and call me Devin," I greeted him. "Alright, young man. Let's go down the hall, and get you into a clean room," he said as we walked. We moved through the hallway, and I saw hospital staff going about their work, but they all looked at me with something in their eyes, fear and horror. Why would they look at me like that?

My train of thought was interrupted as we reached our destination. "Here, Devin. Have a seat on the bed, and we'll check your vitals and draw some blood," he said calmly. I sat down as he said this. "Alright, whatever you say Doc," I said. I sat down, and waited for the tests to be run.

They hooked me up to a heart monitor and took my temperature. Wolfe shined a flashlight in my eyes, and had me follow his own with my eyes while not moving my eyes. Finally, it was time to take blood. Another worker came in, a young man, and he tied my upper arm with a length of rubber. "Devin, can you call down? This is a very common procedure," Dr. Wolfe asked me, and I didn't understand. I was perfectly calm. He pointed to the heart monitor, and it showed my heart was beating much too fast. "I'm fine, Doc. Don't worry about me, just do what you need to," I told him. The young worker then swabbed my arm with an antiseptic pad, and pulled out a needle.

"Alright, this won't hurt a bit, and it'll be over in just a minute. Can you make a fist for me?" the new man asked. I made a fist and he tapped around my elbow, before nodding to himself. He uncapped his needle, and brought it forward. As he pushed the needle in, memories flashed in my head. A girl with brown, dirty hair was standing over me with a needle. Her face was sunken in, and she looked terrible. "Now, here we go. Don't worry, after this, you'll feel great," she said, stretching out the last word, and she plunged the needle into me, and my arm started to burn.

I felt hands holding me down, and I couldn't move. I blinked a few times, and saw three people holding me down. They wouldn't let me move, and I struggled in futility. "Let go of me, now," I told them quietly, but they refused to listen. Looking around the room for a way to get out of this, I saw that the man on my right was holding my arm close to my hand, so I rotated my hand and latched into his arm, and ejected my claws. I felt the sink into flesh and I heard a scream. The hand holding that arm down left, so I swung my arm and punched the woman in the middle in the face, and she fell to the ground. With them out of the way, I rotated my body and stood up. The lady that was on my left refused to let go, so I grabbed her by the back of the head and smashed her into the table. She fell to to ground, and stopped moving.

I took a moment to catch my breath, and I saw Dr. Wolfe walk into the room. "What the hell is going on?" I asked him dangerously. He seemed to be angry, and he responded almost immediately. "These people decided to attack you for some reason while I left to get paperwork. Let me call the front desk so they can send some extra hands to take care of this situation," he said, and moved to the phone in the back of the room. "Alright, I'll watch the door to make sure that-!" I was cut off by a needle being jabbed into my neck, and I felt something being forced into me.

I jerked away, and saw that Wolfe was holding the needle, and had a grim expression on his face. "I'm sorry Devin, but you need to calm down," he said sadly, but I didn't care. I turned around, and ejected my claws. Just as I was about to move, a wave of nausea and exhaustion swept through me. I took one step, and then everything went black.

 **3RD POV**

"That is my report, sir. I do believe that something in his past caused a reaction like this," a tired male voice. He was talking to a man with green and black clothes who was holding a mug. The other man took a sip before responding. "So, you think something in his past caused him to have a fear of needles, hm? So what would you suggest from his behavior that event was, Wolfe?" Green asked Wolfe.

"Well, there are a number of reasons, Ozpin. Repeated illnesses, a medical condition, or even drugs," Wolfe replied. "But, you don't think is any of that, do you?" Ozpin inquired. "No, I don't. His reaction, and vehemence to leave, no matter the cost, shows something else. Right before and during the incident, he seemed to blackout, and relieve something. This kind of relapse is common with veterans, and-" Wolfe stopped himself, and took a calming breath. "And what, Mr. Wolfe?" Wolfe sighed, and continued, "And those who have been experimented on without consent," he said, and the air in the room was dead, and dread hung in the air. "I see,"

 **ENDING NOTES PLEASE READ**

 **Hell yeah! I was so worried this chapter wasn't going to be out on time, but thankfully I got it done, and honestly, I'm quite happy with how it turned out. We learn some more about Devin's past, and we get introduced to a new character. Quick question for those who read this, would you like to see more of this story from other people's perspectives, or just Devin's? It would be a big help if you could let me know in the reviews. Well, with that done, time to start on the next chapter.**


	8. Chapter 8: Memories

**Alright, so this chapter is a plot chapter. And I know how much everyone loves those, so enjoy! As I'm finishing this up, and adding the review from last chapter, I realized that I missed GamerhunterMC's last review. I am very sorry about that, so here ya go. Double response.**

 **1\. Thank you for your kind words, I just hope I live up to them.**

 **2\. Well I always want my chapters to be new and interesting so there's 1 of the 2.**

 **A Change in Perspective**

 **Chapter 8: Memories**

 **STEVEN'S POV**

I could hear the hustle and movement of the hospital workers outside the room. I could hear Mark turning the pages in his book. I could hear James softly cursing under his breath. But most of all, I could hear the steady beep of Devin's heart monitor as he slept. Looking at him, you would never know what he just went through. His face was peacefully still, and his body was clean. He was mostly covered by the hospital bed's bed sheets, but I could see the slight movement of his breathing. Under his nose was a tube that helped him breathe as he slept. It was terrible what happened to him before we were notified by professor Ozpin.

When we were first contacted, all we were told was that an incident had happened with Devin. James, Mark, and I all ran to the hospital wing to get more information. We were led to a room, where an aged doctor was looking over Devin. James pushed past Mark and me and demanded answers from the doctor. He introduced himself as Dr. Wolfe and said that Devin had gone through a panic attack. Apparently, those were very common for hunters to go through after a life threatening experience.

I myself, and probably the others, were shocked to hear that. Devin had never been scared of anything. Not only that, but from how Devin described his condition, the feeling should have passed quickly if he felt it, but Dr. Wolfe said that Devin fought for around seven minutes before he was subdued. He wouldn't tell us specifics about the incident, but he told us not to worry, and that Devin would be back on his feet by the end of the week. He warned us though, to not let Devin do any strenuous activity, as his chest was still healing, and he needed to keep his wraps on his chest.

The door opened, and in walked Ruby and Weiss. Weiss quietly closed the door behind them, and they sat down in the chairs in the room. Silence reigned over the room, as neither group knew what to say to the other. "So, how is he doing today?" Ruby asked awkwardly, breaking the tension.

"He's stable, and the doc thinks he'll be awake by Wednesday at the earliest, and Friday at the latest," Mark replied. That's right, it was Sunday, so that meant it would only be five days at most before he wakes up. He'd already been stuck on that room for four days before the incident, and it had been five since his episode.

While Devin had been in the hospital, a couple of things had happened. Teams had been decided, team RWBY, JNPR, CRDL, a few others I couldn't remember, and us, team ASHN. Team ASHN was so fitting for us. We were a team of people that had been burned at least once, and now we had to rise from our own ashes. " _Heh, maybe I'm too philosophical at times."_ I thought to myself.

The other big event was realizing what level our combat skills actually were. I had always thought we were going to be weaker than the rest as we had less time, but three days ago we had confirmation of our skills.

 **FLASHBACK**

" _It's time for combat class Steven," Mark said to me. "Yeah, hurry the fuck up. I don't want to be the last group in there again," James added, so I quickly fell into step behind them. After a few minutes of walking, we arrived at combat class. Walking in, we saw that the only other team there was JNPR. James, Mark, and I sat in the row in front of them, and waited. More students filtered in for the next few minutes, before the bell rang, signaling the start of class._

 _The teacher for this class, Ms. Goodwitch, stood on the elevated combat arena with a clipboard in hand, and addressed the class. "Now I know that this past week you all have been settling into your classes here, but today we are starting some light sparring. This means that weapons will be allowed, but you will be given nonlethal ammunition in the form of paintballs. Each time you get hit with this ammunition, ten percent of your aura will be automatically deducted from your aura pool, and spars will come to an end when either combatant's aura reaches fifteen percent, a ring out," she pointed to the white ring on the arena, "or they surrender. Also, these spars WILL bar semblances however, until I feel that everyone can handle that responsibility," she said. Some groaned, others, like Yang, were excited to hear this._

" _Now, to decide partners, I will randomly select two students from the class roster, and you will be given a time limit of fifteen minutes for each spar. Does everyone understand," Goodwitch asked the class, and received some form of yes in return from everyone. "Good, now for the first pair, we'll have," she paused, looking at her clipboard, nodding to herself, and continuing, "Steven Crimson vs Yang Xiao Long. Would both of you please come to the arena after retrieving your weapons from the lockers," Goodwitch informed us, and I saw Yang moved to get her weapons. I moved straight to the platform, and walked up the steps._

" _Mr. Crimson, why haven't you gone to get your weapon yet?" Goodwitch asked me with a clipped tone. I nervously laughed and I reached into the back of my jacket, and pulled out my weapon, in its hand axe form. "I always carry it with me, just in case I need it," I told her, and she narrowed her eyes, and stared at me for no more than two seconds, but it felt like a minute. "That is fine, as long as you do not misuse this privilege," she informed me. Our conversation was ended as soon as Yang walked back into the room. She moved to stand opposite of me on the arena, and stood at attention, waiting for instructions._

" _Now that both fighters are present, we can begin. Do either of you have any questions regarding this match?" Goodwitch asked us. We both responded no, and so she moved to the monitor behind us. "Each of you come here, and put your hands in these holes. They will register your aura, calculate how much you have, and also track it," Goodwitch explained, and so Yang and I pressed our hands down, and the monitor came to life, and our pictures came up, and so did a bar. The bars began to fill up, and once they were full, an electronic voice spoke from the computer, "Both combatants have sufficient aura levels. Sparring may commence."_

" _Good. Now then, each of you take one side of the arena, and wait for my say to begin. Since each of you use shotgun shells, here is your paint ammunition. Load them in and begin," Goodwitch ordered after giving us the shells, and we followed. After swapping out our rounds, we each moved to opposite sides of the ring, and waited for further instructions._

" _Ready, set," she paused, looking to both of us for a last minute check for readiness, and we nodded in confirmation, "Begin."_

 _Yang started off by shooting her gauntlets off behind her, and she began to fly towards me. I kept my weapon in its compact form, and stood my ground. When she was just ten feet from me, I swung my arm out, and caught her by the throat. Her momentum caused her body to continue, and she was clotheslined and choked as the air left her chest. I quickly lifted my arm, placed my other on the middle of her back, and slammed her into the ground. The ground cracked under her, and she bounced a few inches into the air, and fell back down._

 _Once I had stood from my attack, I retreated a few pages, and waited for her to recover. She slowly got to one knee with her head lowered and her hair covering her face. We stayed like that for a few tense seconds, before the snapped her head towards me, and her eyes burned crimson. She stood up, and if looks could kill, I'd be dead. I narrowed my eyes and shifted my axe to halberd mode, and I moved it behind my back in a ready position._

 _Yang screamed, a sound you would expect from a wild animal and not a girl, and smashed her fists together. Her hair ignited in bright red flames, and she ran at me with speeds I wouldn't associate with a brawler. It took all of two seconds for her to reach me, but it was enough time for me to begin my swing. I started by rotating my shoulders, and then followed through by swinging my hands, and the momentum was slowed when it contacted with a solid object, Yang._

 _Now, when I had hit her, I expected the need for at least another hit, so I continued to spin, and swung a second time, but hit nothing. I heard a crash, so I looked up to see Yang embedded in the far wall, and then a horn sounded, followed by the same mechanical voice from earlier, "Winner by aura depletion and ring out, Steven Crimson." I heard James and Mark congratulating me, but it all seemed to go too fast. I guess she just didn't have much aura. "_ Oh well, Steven one, Yang zero," _I thought to myself, and I walked over to Yang. I stuck my hand out as she was standing up, and said, "Nice fight Yang, let's do it again, alright?" I asked her, but before she could respond, we were interrupted. "Yes, but next time Miss Xiao Long, you will not use your semblance. And for your failure to follow the rules, you will spend the next three days in detention with me after your classes, understood?" Ms. Goodwitch told Yang sternly, and Yang hung her head in defeat._

 **END FLASHBACK**

Thinking about the fight had me wondering about how Yang was doing. I looked over to Ruby and asked her, "So Ruby, how is Yang doing with her detention?" Ruby seemed startled by my sudden question. "Oh, uh, yeah. She's ok, just tired of the extra work Miss Goodwitch has given her," she replied. After that, we descended into another awkward silence. None of us having anything to say to the other, and the only sound now coming from the heart monitor.

"Gruuuhhh!" A slow, guttural groan broke the silence from behind us. We all looked, and saw Devin awake, albeit with blurred and weary eyes. "What, where?" he asked with a hoarse and confused voice. I rushed over to him, and waved my hand in his face. His eyes focused on my hand, and then looked at me. "Steven?" he asked, before coughing and sputtering. After seeing him cough from talking, I went to the bathroom and filled a paper cup, from a dispenser, with water, and took it back to him. Once I reentered the room, I saw everyone crowding around him. "Everyone, move back. He needs water to speak," I told them, and they made room for me to give Devin the water. He grabbed it and greedily drank it all. "Thank you," he told me. "No problem Devin. I'm just glad to see that you're ok," I let him know.

 **DEVIN POV**

After drinking the water, my throat was no longer parched, so I could talk normally again. "Where am I?" I asked my team, and then I looked to Weiss and Ruby, "And why did you come?" My team shuffled nervously, and it was Mark who replied. "What is the last thing you remember?" he asked me hesitantly. I thought about it, and the last thing was talking to Shukaku, but I couldn't tell them that. "I remember fighting that big Grimm, then nothing," I told him. He seemed relieved and he then spoke again, "Well, you're in the hospital. You got hurt by that Grimm, and the doctors have been taking care of you since," he told me, but there was something off. He was drumming his fingers against his side, and he only did that when he was lying.

"Alright. So, why are the two of you here?" I ask the two girls in the room. Ruby looks at me nervously, but Weiss sported a sour look. "Well, um, we, uh," Ruby stammered, not at all looking comfortable. Weiss sighed angrily before speaking up, "The since here wanted to see if you were ok, and she dragged me along," Weiss informed me. Ruby looked to Weiss, and she seemed she wanted to add something, but thought better of it. Weiss sighed again, before adding, "She brought me here to apologize to you."

"For what?" I asked her. She looked down to the side, and mumbled something. "What did you say?" I asked for calcification, and she yelled back, "FOR CALLING YOU A FILTHY FAUNUS AND A COLORLESS!" She screamed at me, and panted afterwards. "What is a colorless?" She looked at me for a second, and then spoke, "I called you a filthy faunus, and you don't care?" "No, not really. Names don't bother me, but what is a colorless?"

"How do you not know such an important part of history?" she asked astonished. "Well," I started, and pointed to the boys in the room, "We grew up outside the kingdoms, so we never had any reason to learn about them," I lied. I needed something that was believable to attribute to my lack of Remnant's history. Weiss nodded her head, and then Ruby asked, "So, where did you grow up?" she asked innocently. "Kuroyuri," I said in reply. I knew that was where Ren and Nora came from, but with saying that, I could explain away the lack of home now. Wanting some quiet to think of ways to explain all of our past, I signed to Mark.

"Hey, let's give him some space, alright? Devin just woke up, so he probably wants to get situated," Mark spoke up, seeing my signs and doing what. Everyone agreed, and they all left with a goodbye, and I was alone.

Deciding to move around and inspect the room, I moved to sit up, but was stopped by various tugs, one of which caused a sharp pain in my arm. I looked down to see an IV taped to the inside of my left elbow. Seeing that made something flash inside my head, a hazy image of a woman, but it was gone before I could catch it. _"What was that,"_ I thought to myself, _"Who was that woman?"_

Shaking the weird phenomena from my head, I removed the nodes connected to an unwrapped portion of my chest. The machine next to me started to spit out noise, but I paid it no mind. After the nodes, I removed the IV, and stood up, only to feel an intense pain in my chest, forcing me to sit down. I doubled over and clutched my chest. Somehow in the excitement of waking up, I had forgotten how I had gotten here.

After the pain came down to only a dull throb, I stood up again, but this time more carefully. After moving only two feet from my bed, the door burst open, and a trio of doctors came rushing in. They all stopped when they saw me not dead, but instead standing up, and alive. "Hello," I greeted with a wave of my hand. None of them responded, but one did come closer, a man. "Devin, good to see you awake," he said. I looked at him blankly.

"Do I know you?" I asked him. He seemed startled for only a moment, before he collected himself, "No, but I'm the doctor who did your surgery. My name is Dr. Wolfe, by the way. You must be very strong to have pulled through an injury like that," he replied. So he was the one who fixed me up. Good to know who I was indebted to. "Well then, you have my thanks," I told him. He seemed to take it in stride, before motioning something to the other two doctors. They nodded and left the room.

"So Devin, what is the last thing you remember before waking up?" he asked me once the others had left the room. Mark had asked me the same thing. Was there something going on that I wasn't aware of? "Being attacked by that giant Grimm," I told him. He hummed in thought, taking a notepad and pencil from his pocket and writing something down. "OK. And you don't remember anything else," he asked again, and this time I replied angrily. "No I don't. Should I?" I asked heatedly. "No. Have a good day Devin," he said as an end to the conversation, and left the room. "Dammit," I whispered as I slammed my hand down on the side of my bed. I hated it when people withheld things from me. After thinking that, a realization went through me, "Huh, so I can still feel anger," I said aloud, looking at my clenched fists.

This was definitely not how I wanted to wake up. Whatever. I didn't have time to think about the past, I needed to think about the future. I closed my eyes and began to think of ways to stretch and bend what I knew about Remnant to fit my friend's and my needs. _"You do know that sooner or later, what is true will come to light?"_ a raspy, airy voice asked inside my head. "Don't I know it, Shukaku, don't I know it."

 **OH MY GOD! I was literally just about to start the process of uploading this chapter when I saw the view count. I broke 1,000 views! Thank all of you who read this so much. Now next milestone in 100,000 views. Can you guys help me there?! Just kidding :) Anyway, thanks to all of you who read these chapters, and have a great day.**


	9. Chapter 9: More Than a Name Tag

**IMPORTANT PLEASE READ BEFORE CONTINUING**

 **So, I won't bore you with unnecessary info. I didn't like the direction the story was taking while following the cannon. It was just a written version of the RWBY show with a few extra people. So, this chapter I start to move from the scheduled events and making my own. Sorry to all of you who were hoping for this to follow the cannon exactly, but it just didn't feel like my story, just an exaggerated form of the original. I hope all of you will like the changes in the future, and thank you for understanding.**

 **GamehunterMC: Thank you for your review!**

 **A Change in Perspective**

 **Chapter 9: More Than a Name Tag**

I breathed in my nose, and out my mouth. _I am calm._ I sat cross-legged on the floor of my room. _I am calm._ I had my fists pressed together on my lap in front of the center of my stomach. _I am calm._ I sat perfectly still, not moving any part of my body, my eyes closed, and slowed my heart rate. _I am calm._

" _That is enough Devin, you aren't going to make any progress if you force yourself,"_ a voice sounded off inside my head. I lowly growled at the voice, but complied nonetheless. "I don't get it. What am I doing wrong Shukaku? I've followed the instructions to a tee. What else can I do?" I asked the demon in my head. He scoffed dismissively before replying, _"I have already told you that the first step to controlling anger is to let go of what makes you feel the emotion. Something you have yet to do,"_ he said, confirming what I had thought. I still couldn't forget about what had happened last week between Wolfe, Mark, and I. They were hiding something, and I needed to know what.

"I can't let go, not until I learn what they kept from me," I told him. The thought of what was hidden has plagued me since I woke up. I hadn't slept well, and it showed. My hair was disheveled, I had bags under my eyes, and I was having trouble staying awake. All of that compacted itself when I tried to meditate, the stress and irritation came to a head, and I wouldn't be able to become calm. _"Then find a way to learn their secret, whatever you need to let go of your anger. Or else it will be bottled up until you explode, and release it all, and that is not an alluring prospect,"_ Shukaku replied in a tired voice, telling me he was as done with my incompetence with meditation as I was. _"Or, you can forget the incident for now, and focus on the present,"_ the bijuu said as an alternative. "That's probably the best idea," I said as I stood up.

Looking around the room, I am still astonished by the size of it. It was a large room in the size of a square, and it had a shelf in the center of the left, right, and rear walls. The walls themselves were a light meadow green. In the center of the room were four beds, three of them containing the other members of team ASHN. The tan carpet squished under my bare feet as I travelled to the shower, grabbing a set of clothes on the way. _"Time to start the day,"_ I thought to myself, before getting in the shower and letting the warm water ease my troubled mind.

"And so that is the story of how I killed a Boarbatusk with my bare hands and some floss," Professor Port said after finishing his story. The story was ridiculous and clearly falsified, but there was some substance there, like using some kind of rope to trip up a Boarbatusk and kill it when it exposed its underbelly. Looking around the room, I could see that no one else had seen the meaning behind his story, not that I would fault them, the meaning was stashed under so much bravado and falsities that it was almost undetectable.

While looking at the class, I could see that while no one understood the lesson, there were some who paid attention, and those who stopped caring. Ruby was doodling, Yang was almost asleep, and Blake was reading a book. Weiss, however seemed to angered, but most of it was directed at Ruby. angered at her team's lack of care.

"The morale of this story? A true huntsman must be honorable. A true huntsman must be dependable. A true huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise. So who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?" I heard Port say, and like in the show, Weiss raised her hand and was selected to fight the Grimm, that was in a cage, in the room. She left to grab her combat gear, and the class waited a few minutes until she came back in.

Port stood next to the cage, after grabbing his weapon, a blunderbuss axe, and swung it down, breaking the door and letting loose the Grimm. It was a small Boarbatusk, around the size of a wolf. It sniffed the ground, and then looked up. It saw Weiss and stamped its foot in preparation for a charge. She brought her rapier forward in a blocking stance, but the Grimm didn't move in her direction. Instead, it looked around the room, and settled its gaze in my direction. It shook its head and snorted before curling into a ball and spinning like Sonic towards me.

I reached for my swords, only to not be fast enough, as the Grimm reached me before I could draw them. It hit me in the chest and rolled into me. I could feel its tusks and spines rip against my aura. I balled up my hand and punched it at the top of the spin, and pushed it off of me onto its back. I grabbed my swords and plunged them into its underbelly, killing the monster, with on last squeal being its death rattle.

I stood up and sheathed my swords. "Very nice quick thinking Mr. Ash. Why, it reminds me of myself in my youth," Professor Port said after I stood up. I looked around the room, and saw that most were startled that the Boarbatusk had run up the stairs to the crowd, but Weiss was different. She had a look of contempt, seemingly pointed towards Ruby and I. The bell rang after that exciting debacle, and Weiss stormed out of the room, with Ruby chasing after her.

I followed them and caught Ruby after the end of their conversation. She looked so sad and distraught, and anger swelled through me _"How could Weiss do this to her own teammate? How dare she belittle someone when she has no room to speak for herself? That-!"_ I thought to myself, before I was cut off by Shukaku. _"ENOUGH! Calm down now, Devin!"_ He yelled at me, and I stopped myself before I went any further. I took a deep breathe in through my nose, and out my mouth, "Thank you, Shukaku," I said under my breath, receiving a snort in response.

After composing myself, I walked to Ruby. "Hey there red hood, what's wrong?" I asked in a flat voice, not letting my anger show. She looked to me with tears in her eyes, and replied shakily, "W-weiss said th-that I don't belong as the te-team leader. Do you think I d-do?" she asked, shuddering due to the tears. I took a moment to decide the words to use, "I think that neither of you understand what being a leader is," I said, and she wiped at her tears, "I totally know what it means to be a leader," she said, pouting. "Well then, what does it entail?" I asked her seriously. "Well, you have to be strong and be able to make your teammates follow you," she said with conviction in her voice, before I shot her down.

"No, being a leader means much more than that. Being a leader is not just a name tag you wear, but it also is not your whole life. Rather, it is a very niche role that only a few can have," I told her. She looked astonished to hear my take, and then resolved herself to ask another question, "What is the role?" I responded with as much authority as I could, "It is to inspire others to do their best, and even exceed their limits. It is to take responsibility for your team and make sure they are safe and secure, even in the darkest of times," I told her.

She looked at me with wonder filled eyes, before they dimmed. "Do you think I can do that?" she asked meekly, obviously, desperately wanting a yes. "Only time can tell. When you have been put through a trial that tests your skills, only then will you know."

"Well said Mr. Ash," a voice said behind us. I spun around and saw Professor Ozpin standing behind us. "But I have to wonder, if leadership is more than a badge, but less than your life, what is it?" he asked me, a small smile on his face. I closed my eyes before responding, "It's a gargantuan boulder, resting precariously on your shoulders. One wrong move sending it tumbling to the ground. It is a weight that will always be with you, but not one you must shoulder alone. There will be those willing to help carry the weight, and make sure it never falls," I said, opening my eyes once I was finished talking. I turned to look at Ruby, an idea forming in my head, "Maybe I should talk to Weiss, see if I can get her to help ease your load," I told her before traversing the halls in search of Weiss. I heard Ruby yell a thank you, before I turned the first corner.

It took about ten minutes of walking before I found Weiss. She was standing on a balcony, gazing at the ground below, her ponytail blowing in the wind and her skirt ruffling with the breeze. I was frozen in place by an unknown force, one that I wasn't to keen on resisting. As I gazed at her, for just for a moment, my anger was forgotten, replaced with something new, something I couldn't identify. I shook my head and continued towards her. "So, this is where you ran off to snowflake," I called out to her.

She turned around, a scowl on her unblemished face, her scar notwithstanding. "What do you want? And my name is Weiss Schnee," she said in a biting and clipped tone. I gave her a lazy look and then spoke, "Well, I heard of your argument with Ruby, so I came to talk with you. And while I could give you the same rant I gave her, I don't think it will have the same effect." Her eyebrows creased as she replied, "So what do you want to tell me? Nothing you say will change my mind. Ruby isn't ready to be a leader yet," she said with such finality, a lesser man might have believed her, but not me.

"You're right. She isn't ready," I began. "Thank you! Finally someone understands my point of view," Weiss said with head held high and a winning smile, "But neither am I. Nor Jaune, or Pyrrha, or Blake, or even you. No one is ready to be a leader, or the burden that comes with it. You are only ready after you have gone through the trials of one," I finished, and Weiss looked at me like I was crazy. "The others I could agree with, but Pyrrha? She has the most qualifications of all of us," she said.

"Well, that depends on your view of leadership. In terms of pure strength, Pyrrha it's your best bet. But, being a leader is not about strength. It is about shouldering the burden of responsibility and inspiring others, not through strength, but character," I looked to the ground below, and saw a few students aimlessly walking about. "Although, in my speech to Ruby, I neglected to tell her one important part of being a leader," I paused, looking at her, and making sure she was paying attention before continuing, "And that, is making sure that your team makes it home safely, no matter the cost. Even if it means giving your own life for theirs," I concluded, giving her a chance to digest what I had said.

"So, do you still think that Ruby can't become a good leader?" I asked her after a few moments of silence. She sighed before giving her answer, "I suppose I should give her a chance to grow. I just hope that she is the right person for the job," Weiss said, looking nervous. L reached over and clapped a hand onto her shoulder, "Well, only time will tell, but what you can do to help, is to take some if her burden for yourself. Every person in a team needs to have a role. All you need to do is find yours," I said, remembering the times my team and I fought over who would do what and who was the best at said activity.

I started to walk away, but not before saying one last thing, "Besides, being a leader isn't all it's cracked up to be. Not only do we have extra classes, we also have to make sure everyone on our team plays nice or else we get blamed for what they do. It's stacked against us," I said, and Weiss softly giggled. The sound was like the most beautiful orchestra I had ever heard, and I knew that I wanted to hear it again. "Thank you, Devin, for everything," Weiss said as I left. "No problem, snowflake." "That's not my name!"

"This is very troubling, Mr. Wolfe. A man of his age shouldn't have this many scars," Ozpin said, looking at a few picture of a body. There were four, one showing the back, chest and stomach, and left and right arms respectively. They were covered in different scars, some barely a few centimeters, others over six inches long. Ozpin turned to Wolfe and spoke, "Are these all from Grimm, or are they from something else," he asked the doctor, who in turn circled some areas with a black pen, those with the biggest scars.

"These areas are most definitely from Grimm, the jagged cuts showing a sharp laceration done with the precision of a wild animal. But these," Wolfe said, circling other areas, "are much more sharp and defined, showing a very sharp cutting instrument was used, and used with extreme proficiency, that which Grimm do not have," he concluded his findings to Ozpin.

"So, what do you think caused these injuries and do you know when they occurred?" Ozpin asked. "Well, the Grimm scars all happened relatively recently, with none of them being older than six months old, same with most of the scars on his arms. The others however, are different. You see, over time scar tissue heals itself, and will become almost the color of regular skin, if treated properly. It will also become more taut, and match the elasticity of the surrounding tissue. These however, while becoming taut, have not taken his natural skin color. A possibility is that they were deep, but it doesn't seem that way," Wolf said, taking a deep breath afterwards.

"So you think that something happened in his past that caused them to be like this?" Ozpin asked the doctor. Wolfe looked Ozpin straight in the eyes and said, "No, I'm telling you that most all of those scars are at least ten years old, and none of them were treated properly. They all also share the same straight pattern indicating something like a knife was used to inflict them," Wolfe said, his voice deadly serious. "And whatever caused them, didn't want him to forget it." Ozpin took one last look at the photographs, and turned his gaze to Wolfe. "I would like you to keep an eye on young Mr. Ash, please. Make sure he isn't a possible flight risk," he said to Wolfe, who nodded. "I just hope the scars on his body are the only ones he has," Wolfe said before leaving.

 **Hey guys. Sorry if this chapter is short, but family things came up and I didn't have as much time this week. Also the badge and burden episodes didn't have much substance to begin with. Next week will hopefully be longer. The summary of this story will change to better reflect the changes I expressed at the top of the chapter. Anyways, have a great day everyone!**


	10. Chapter 10: Song and Dance

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

 **Well, you know what they say, better late than never, right? Ughh. The reason this is late is a lot of family stuff came up, and also the holidays. Unfortunately, a lot of time from here on out until at least the end of December will be spent with my family, and that means less time to work. So until then, I won't have an upload schedule, and will post new chapters as they are done. Sorry for those who read this and expect consistency, it won't have that for a bit.**

 **A Change in Perspective**

 **Chapter 10: Song and Dance**

I sat with my head hung low in my chair, waiting for the teacher to be done writing on the board. I was in Dust 101, a class that every first year student at Beacon had to take. Professor Peach was teaching us about the volatility of dust and how they interacted, things that I already knew from my testing.

Professor Peach, ironically, had orange colored hair that seemed eternally static, with small fringes popping out of place. She also wore big, thick glasses with a black rim. Her attire consisted of a pink colored shirt and khaki pants, all covered by a lab coat.

"And this shows us that the most volatile dust type is in fact gravity, not burn like many think," Professor Peach said, after putting her chalk down and turning to face the class. On the board was an equation for measuring the combustion and energy released by an explosion. Looking over it would show that because more energy is contained in a gravity dust explosion, it is considered more volatile.

I yawned lowly, still tired from my sleepless nights prior to today. Another factor in my insomnia were my faunus senses. I was still having trouble adjusting to my new surroundings, and the sounds and smells that came with them.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Ash, am I boring you? Would you like to teach instead?" Professor Peach asked me, looking rather annoyed at my sleepiness. I raised my head and stared blankly at her, quenching my unneeded anger at her calling me out. "I'm good," I said in reply, and turned to look at the blackboard instead. "Well then, pay attention. This class will save your life someday, so do not dismiss the importance of dust in combat, even if you don't use it," Peach said, before turning to face the blackboard again.

" _Haha. What an idiot."_

" _Who does he think he is, sleeping in class like that?"_

" _He'll probably be the one who dies from a dust explosion on a mission."_

I could hear people behind me saying these things, and it made my anger boil even more. I clenched my fists, and breathed through my nose, held for three seconds, and blew out my mouth. I shook in place, and simmered in anger as I had no outlet for it. I turned out the lecture that Peach gave and focused on letting go of my anger. I meditated in place, trying to relieve myself of my anger. While I was doing this, I felt the tug of sleep pull me, and I didn't resist it. The world around me melted into blackness and I rested my eyes.

 _SMASH_

My head jumped up and I opened my eyes. I saw Peach looming over me, holding a thick book and looking angry. "MR. ASH! Didn't I already talk to you once today?" Peach asked me, and I blinked to remove the haziness from my vision. I must have fallen asleep some time while trying to calm down. I removed my left hand that had automatically shot to my weapon, and responded, "Yes, I just don't care to listen to things I already know," I said snarkily, my anger overriding common sense. Peach looked offended for a moment, before smirking. "Well then, how about you answer some of my questions. However, if you miss a single one, you will spend the next week in detention, understood?" Peach asked calmly, and I knew I would be fine with this challenge. "Whatever you say, teach."

"Pay attention class, and you'll learn something." Peach grabbed a piece of chalk, and began to write on the board again. "Now, a dust explosion happens with both burn and shock dust respectively. Which dust will have a more powerful reaction?" Peach asked as she turned to face me, showing the quantities and conditions of each dust. I studied the parameters, and decided on my answer. "The shock dust will, as the conditions of its explosion is a flat, dry area, allowing for it to explode without much resistance from wind or environmental disturbances. Also, the burn dust's condition is a humid area, meaning that the moisture in the air will slow its combustion, therefore limiting its explosive capabilities," I told her, and she looked shocked for a moment, before she settled back into a thin smile.

"Well then, let's see how you do with this. A dust miner is moving a box of unmarked dust, and he drops it from a height of four feet. He doesn't know what kind of dust in in there, nor the state of it. What should he do to both move the dust to a safe location, and leave the area safely himself?" Peach asked me, and I knew that this was more than a test. It was a wake up call for everyone in class. There was no way that a first year would be expected to know this, but the story would show the other students in class the importance of dust safety in a real life situation.

My mind whirled for the correct response, my eyes closed as I did mental math. There was no possible way to know the kind of dust without opening it, and that could be all it needed to cause the dust to explode. Even just moving some agitated dust can cause them to ignite. After going through every possible scenario I could think of, I gave my response. "He can't, so he should just leave the area and warn his co-workers and boss of the situation, and be thankful that he still has his life," I said, my response lacking any anger, and instead having a resolute tone in it, showing that I solved her trick question.

"Hmmm. Very good. Here's my final question. What is the best type of dust to use in a reaction where the explosion is needed to be less than thirty meters wide and no larger than fifty meters tall? Also, the explosion must have a dust ratio of fifty-five percent quake dust," Professor Peach said, and I was stumped for a moment.

Quake? I had never heard of that dust type before, and I knew that I couldn't ask her what element it was. I picked my brain for even a shred of information that could give me even an idea as to the answer, but I just came to the conclusion, that I had lost. "I'm sorry, but I can't answer that," I said, my anger returning at being fooled at the area I thought I knew best.

Peach smiled lightly, without a hint of smugness, just an honest smile. "It is good to see that some of the next generation is willing to accept defeat with pride. However, don't feel bad at all, there was no way for you to know about that kind of dust. It is only a theorized dust combination of ground and shock dust. You pass. Although, I want you to stay after class for this week to talk about your dust knowledge and its applications. Anyways, back to the lesson," Peach told me. She turned back to face the board when the bell rang, signaling the end of the class period.

Everyone stood up to leave, but I stayed seated. "Go and study for Oobleck's test. I'll come when I'm done here," I told the rest of team ASHN, and they bid me goodbye and left for their studies. "Now, why don't we talk about the extent of your dust knowledge," Peach said. She grabbed a small notebook and pencil, and she wrote down a few dust formulas. This was definitely the way I likes to spend my time, learning.

Silence was an interesting concept. Most used it as a way to explain near total lack of sound. However, there is no natural way to experience it in the world. There will always be wind or animals to make even the slightest noise to keep silence at bay, and for good reason. Complete lack of sound is a terrifying concept, one that few wish to experience. After all, sound is one of the five big senses, and without it one is left without their best survival tool. This lack of sense was what I felt when I was alone in my own mind.

Shukaku had spoke to me, and directed me here so we could talk face to face. Once we were done discussing things, those things consisting of meditation and how to better understand my own emotions, I had gone as far away as I could, and just sat. I pushed away all my feelings, and I felt a familiar hollow pit, but this time I also felt cold, like a warmth I never noticed had left as well.

I sat down on the sands, and without a thing to interrupt me, began to experiment with the power I gained from Shukaku. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and willed his power to come to the surface of my being. I could feel a power move and stir, but it remained far from my grasp. I mentally tugged at the feeling, and felt it give way after some prodding. My body was filled with a bright red, corrosive energy. The energy began to eat away at my body, but I paid it no mind. I opened my eyes slowly, and looked at myself.

My entire body was shrouded in a red energy. It twisted and bubbled, but never quite became solid. It was like putting on a warm coat in spring. Just a little too hot to be comfortable, and just under the energy, I could see my skin turning a red color. However, it wasn't what I was expecting. This wasn't the jinchuuriki cloak that I thought it would be. It didn't touch me, but rather was around my body, sizzling and floating in the air. I moved my arm, and the energy slowly followed behind.

"This is an incomplete cloak. You have nowhere near enough control of my power to achieve that form," Shukaku said, suddenly appearing behind me. I turned to face him, and responded. "Then what do you call this? And how does it help me?" I asked Shukaku. He raised his front left paw and it shot out towards me. I crossed my arms in a defensive move, but the hit didn't connect. Instead, it was stopped by the energy surrounding me. Right where Shukaku's paw would have hit, the energy turned into a crystalline structure, and halted the attack. He retracted his leg and moved it back into place.

"It does that. Also, it doesn't have a name, as no other container had as bad of control over my chakra as you. This is because you have never interacted with chakra before, but also because you are still new to your own energy, and adding another source so soon is not an optimal way to learn control," Shukaku informed me. I began to try to force the chakra to follow my orders, but it refused. As I was about to release my hold on it, Shukaku spoke again.

"My chakra, no matter the form, is always an automatic defense first, and a method of attack second. You will need to practice with this form extensively before you try to move on to the later stage of the full cloak. Now then, since you have unlocked a small portion of the power I gave you, you need to leave here and practice in the real world," he said. I looked to him questioningly and replied, "Why do I need to train in the real world? Why not here?" I asked him. Shukaku then explained that because this was my mind, that anything I wanted to happen would, rendering any training worthless. "Before you go, you need to be careful. This form of my chakra is unfiltered and raw. It is as corrosive as it can be, so do not use it for longer than five minutes until you can control it better."

As I was about to ask for clarification on the perks and limitations of this new power, a voice rang throughout the world around us. "Devin!" it screamed. "Devin you need to get up!" I recognized that voice. It was Ruby. "I need to go Shukaku I'll speak to you later," I said and willed myself to leave my mind.

I came to in the training area I had meditated in, but now Ruby was shaking me. She looked afraid, terrified even. Her eyes lit up when mine opened and she yelled, "Devin, you're in danger!" She screamed at me. Hearing that, I jumped up and away from her. "Where? What's coming?" I asked her hastily. Whatever was so urgent that Ruby was scare needed to be dealt with soon. "Nothing's coming. It's you. There's something on you," she said, pointing to my right hand. I looked to my hand and saw the same red chakra from my mind there. I shook my hand, and it faded away, leaving behind red and irritated skin. I rubbed it slowly, trying to get feeling back into it.

"Devin, what was that?" Ruby asked me. Panic swarmed me. I didn't know how to explain it. I definitely couldn't tell her about Shukaku, but I also couldn't say I didn't know. That was when Shukaku gave me an idea. "It's fine, Ruby. It was just an advanced aura exercise. It uses one's emotions to control their aura. I was channeling anger, therefore red aura was created," I said, and I said it in a way that seemed I had done this before. "Oh, well that's a relief. You really had me worried, Devin. I'm glad that you're ok!" Ruby exclaimed, back to her usual peppy self. "Well, we should probably get to combat class. You know how Goodwitch is when you're late," she said, and led the way to class.

Combat class was my least favorite class at Beacon so far. Now, that's not to say that it was slow or boring, just that a lot of the students had very similar fighting styles. Those with swords had large sweeping and overhead arcing attacks, those with weapons such as maces had long wound up attacks that hit heavy when they connected, and those with shorter blades such as daggers used hit and run tactics to win. It was much of the same for me, except when team RWBY or JNPR fought. They all used unconventional tactics and styles, and that led to interesting fights.

Also, in the week I had been back, I hadn't once been in a fight. So I sat back and watched, seeing the same styles over and over again. "Would Mr. Lark and Mr. Ash please come to the stage?" My half-lidded and tired eyes widened by a margin when I heard my name called. "Go get him Devin! You got this!" Ruby shouted, and Yang and my team soon joined her. I walked to the stage with that as my background noise, and stood on my side, waiting for Sky's return. He came back, changed from his school attire into his combat outfit. That was something my team neglected to do. We always wore our combat outfits, mostly because we were most comfortable in them.

Once Sky was back, we were given Goodwitch's routine speech, and we both agreed. We moved to the aura tracker, and placed our hands there. Sky's went without a hitch, but mine began to flash, and a robotic voice spoke, "Warning. Aura inflation detected. Warning." and it repeated once again, before Goodwitch came over. She pressed a few buttons, and then addressed the class. "There is no need to worry. The program has a limit set for first years and what it believes their maximum aura levels should be. You just happen to exceed that, Devin. I have set new calibrations for you, so that won't happen again. With that out of the way, let's continue," Goodwitch said, and we retook our spots. " _More aura than normal?"_ I thought to myself.

"Are both combatants ready?" Goodwitch asked. We both nodded in affirmation, and she did so in return. "Ready, set," I reached into my hood, and lifted my headphones onto my ears. I had set my phone to shuffle, so let's see what song I get. "begin," Goodwitch finished, and I pressed play.

 **(Begin playing Carnivore by Starset)**

Sky started out by charging me with his halberd held in his right hand, the head of which slightly trailed behind him. He had a look of determination etched into his face, and he was concentrating fully on me. His weapon was a mostly black color, with grey outlining the halberd blade.

I didn't meet his charge, and instead stood my ground. When he was in range, he swung at me, and I angled my sword in a reverse grip. As his swing was at the apex of its arc, I retaliated by bringing my sword to my chest, and swung diagonally up and to the left, catching his blade and pushing it away. I parried with my left sword, and he was staggered as the force from his blow was turned against him. Once he was off balance, I capitalized. I got one hit on his unprotected front, and before he could recover, another hit that slashed him from his left shoulder to his right hip. While he moved his weapon to a ready position, and, even though I had time for another attack, I disengaged.

I raised my swords in a cross fashion, and waited for him, hoping to bait an attack from him. He swung again, this time for an overhead strike, reading my move as an attempted block. I, however, dodged to the left, and got the side of him. Once I was at his side, I began to wail on him. The first strike came from my left sword, and it struck his right arm. The next was with my right and I swung at his neck, and his my target. He stumbled forwards, and I readied both my swords. I charged at his back and hit him with both of them simultaneously in a thrust attack. He fell over this time, and before he could move, I placed my swords in the small of his back, and pressed down lightly. "Surrender," I told him, and pushed down harder. He tried to move, and I put my knee in his back and repeated myself, "Surrender." He stopped moving and finally replied, "I surrender," Sky said sadly, knowing that the fight was one sided. _"I didn't even finish the song,"_ I thought to myself, and turned off my headphones. "Winner by surrender, Devin Ash," the computer said.

After the fight was over, Goodwitch came over to us and told us her thoughts on the match. "Mr. Lark. That was unsatisfactory to say the least. Although you read your opponent's moves, you forgot to anticipate deviations from their plan, and if the risk of engaging was with it. That being said, you made good use of your swings and momentum, and your attacks were thought out well. I'm giving you an eighty-three percent on that fight. Learn from this fight and better yourself," Goodwitch told him, and he thanked her and left for his seat.

"As for you, Mr. Ash, you did exceptionally well for your first fight. You not only correctly anticipated your opponent's moves, you also controlled the pace of the fight. However, there were a few openings that I saw and you did not take. You must use every opening and pause in a fight to gain advantage. For this fight, I'm giving you a ninety-three percent. Learn from this fight and better yourself," she told me, and I nodded my head and left for my seat. As I walked down, I could hear my team, Ruby, and Yang giving me congratulations. Once I got there, Ruby and Yang bombarded me with questions, and I answered what I could. Through all of the questions, a warm feeling was in my chest, and while weird, was not wholly unpleasant.

 **Yay, my second fight scene, and it's a full one this time! Let me know in the comments what you guys thought of it, and I'll be back with the next chapter as soon as I can. CanEvenCookEgg, out.**


	11. Chapter 11: Secrets Revealed

**Here's the newest chapter in A Change in Perspective. Here's hoping you guys like it!**

 **A Change in Perspective**

 **Chapter 11: Secrets Revealed**

 **(Begin Playing DS2 Majula OST)**

Music filled the air as I sat in the middle of the training room. I was in a meditative stance, with my legs crossed and my hands made into fists, and they were pressed against each other in front my belly button. I had borrowed James' speakers and I was using then to help me get into a relaxed state. The music was a soothing score from one of the game franchises that I had played on earth, and it was one that left a lasting impression on me. That game series is Dark Souls, and the score was the Majula theme from Dark Souls II.

Dark Souls was a game about the repeating of cycles, and the thought that what you do, may have no lasting consequence on the world. Also, the game has some of the best NPC characters in a game that I've played. The NPC's will constantly encourage you to keep going and never give up, hoping to see you do what so many others have failed to complete. Many see the game as meaningless, and just hard to be hard, but not me. I can see the parallels between it and life, and how, while you may not feel as though anything matters, it does. Every choice, every action you make can affect others in ways you may not even realize.

This game is a struggle, not for being hard, but because that is how the world is. A harsh place where many think you have to be extraordinary to make a difference. But in this world, where you slay monsters, kill dragons, and save so many people, you are just like anyone else. Anyone could have done what you did, but you had the strength and courage to continue, and to finish such a daunting task, and that is the beauty of Dark Souls. You are but a simple hollow, but you do so much, because you believe. There is so much power in belief; that alone is a power unmatched by any other. Not to mention it has some beautiful music.

I breathed slowly, and once again reached inside myself to find Shukaku's power. I felt it bubbling and writhing, and brought it to the surface. The chakra shrouded me again, and I felt it burn me. It hurt my skin just to have it out, but I endured. I stood up, and moved my arms, and the chakra lethargically followed them. I moved around in a basic fighting kata, and found that I felt stronger and faster, even as the chakra burned me.

I kept up my practice for a solid five minutes, before the pain became too much. I released my hold on the energy, and it seeped back into myself, leaving behind pink, raw skin that itched when I moved. Once all the energy was gone, I was left a sweating and drained. After recovering somewhat from the ordeal, I grabbed my phone, speakers, and bag, and I left the training room for the showers. On my way, I was stopped by Weiss talking to me from behind.

"Devin, there you are. My team and I were wanting to talk to you about what you said in the forest during initiation," Weiss said, and I knew that it wasn't a request. I needed to bite the bullet quickly. "That's fine. I will come by your dorm room within the next fifteen minutes," I told her, and continued walking towards the showers. _"So, she finally asked me about that. Took her long enough,"_ I thought to myself.

I walked in the blue door that led into the shower room. I chose the stall farthest from the entrance, and opened my bag. I took out my change of clothes, a pair of blue jeans and a black long-sleeve shirt, and a towel, and my shampoo and body wash. After that, I walked into the stall and began to undress. I removed my shirt, and heard a growl in my head. _"Devin, where did you get those scars?"_ Shukaku's voice asked, demanding an answer. I shrugged my shoulders and responded, "I don't know." He made a scoffing sound before continuing the conversation, _"What do you mean, you don't know?"_ Shukaku asked incredulously.

I sighed, and told him of my past, or the lack thereof, "The earliest memory I have is twelve years ago, when I was five. I remember waking up in a van outside an abandoned hospital that was waiting to be torn down. I sat there for a few minutes, wondering where I was, when suddenly the back door of the vehicle opened," I could remember the bright light that blinded me, and the confusion that I felt. "It was a police woman, and she had her gun drawn, but of course I didn't know it at the time. When she saw me, she put her gun away and picked me up," I closed my eyes, and told him the last part of that interaction. "When she pulled me out of the vehicle, she screamed, and I didn't know what was wrong. She kept asking me if I was OK, and I kept saying yes." Just by thinking, I could still see her terrified face, as she stared at me. "They rushed me to the nearest working hospital, and they ran all kinds of tests," for some reason the thought of the blood they drew and the shots they gave me made my spine shiver. "It wasn't until halfway through the tests that someone finally asked my name. That was the only thing that I knew. My name. Devin," I told Shukaku.

Shukaku went silent so I continued to undress until I was in the appropriate attire for a shower. I turned on the water, and let the hot water ease my burning muscles. The water eased my aches and pains as my mind wandered. I thought about what I was going to reveal to team RWBY, and what I was holding on to until later. An idea popped into my head, and I knew I had to do it. I only had to find out where the kitchen was…

I watched Devin leave with an uncomfortable twitch in my chest. While I did feel bad about making him talk to my team and I, I needed to know what he knew about team RWBY. After resolving myself to this course of action, I left the hallway and retreated to my room. I scanned my scroll across the lock, and the door opened. I walked in and closed it behind me.

I surveyed the room and found Ruby playing with her scroll on her bunk. Looking across from her, I saw Yang listening to music from her scroll. Lastly, below her was Blake who was reading a book. I cleared my throat to get their attention, and Ruby and Blake shifted their eyes to me. "Blake, can you get Yang's attention?" I asked her nicely, which was a change from two months ago. After Devin had talked to me, my eyes were opened to how I was acting, and I tried to better myself.

Blake reached up and pinched Yang's leg. Yang jumped and glowered at Blake. Yang took her headphones off and spoke, "What do you need Blake," she asked, and Blake pointed to me. "What's up ice queen?" Yang asked me flippantly. I took a second to compose myself, and spoke. "I just talked with Devin, and I asked him to come speak with us," I said, addressing the whole group.

"Oooohhhhh! Do you want us to leave so you can have some alone time with your knight in grey armor?" Yang asked me flirtily. I made a disgusted noise before replying, "No, Yang. That won't be necessary. What I asked him here for was to explain what he said in the Emerald Forest," I said, and Blake's head popped up. She stared at me and I knew she wanted answers, just as much as I did.

I looked over to Ruby as she began stuttering, "Uh, is it a good idea to ask him about that? Can't we just forget about that and move on?" she asked hopefully, and I gave a deadpan stare in return. "Yeah I didn't think so," she said in defeat. "So what brought this on, and why now?" Blake asked me inquisitively. I stared at her for a moment before giving my response, "I wanted time for things to settle down, and for a place that seemed right. And when I saw him today, it felt right," I said. Our conversation petered of from there, only talking about petty things until our conversing ended altogether and we started to do our own things.

The comfortable silence in the room was cut through by a knock at the door. "Weiss, it's Devin. You wanted to talk. I have my hands full so I need help with the door," Devin's even voice spoke from the other side of the door. Since he said he needed help, an I was the one who asked him here, I moved to the door to open it. I turned the door handle and opened it, and saw Devin standing there, with two trays in his hands, both of which were covered by silver domes. He was balancing both trays in his hands so I moved out of his way and spoke, "There is a table you can put those down on to the left," I said, and pointed at the small table in the corner of the room. He nodded his head and headed over there.

He set down his trays, and removed the tops. Inside the one on the left were some cookies that had chocolate chips in them, and had an uneven look to them. On the right was five steaming mugs, the smell of tea and chocolate filling the air now that the cups were released from their confines. I looked at him questioningly, "I baked some oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies and made some tea for our talk. I thought you may want a snack before we started," Devin said, gesturing to the trays, "though I did make hot chocolate for Ruby," he finished, and said girl squealed and ran over to get her cup. After Ruby had gotten hers, he began handing out the other mugs.

After the mugs were handed out, he handed us each a plate for cookies, of which Ruby took four with a beaming smile and a laugh, and the rest of us took one each. Once that was done, we all sat down, Ruby and I on my bunk, Blake and Yang on Blake's, and Devin on the chair from our desk. Devin took a sip from his tea and spoke, "So Weiss, you wanted to ask a few questions?" Devin asked tonelessly. I nodded my head in confirmation. "Alright, ask away team RWBY."

We sat for a few moments in tense silence. It was uncomfortable to sit this long without speaking so I was going to ask my question, but Ruby beat me. "Why do you owe my mom? What did she do for you?" Ruby asked in a small, sad voice. Devin looked at her for a second before responding, "She gave me something precious. Something that I still hold dear to my heart, something that inspires me to this day, even if I know how little sacrifice means," he said, and I was confused. What did sacrifice have to do with this at all? But I saw Ruby nod to his answer, but she wasn't finished yet. "You said you owed her two things. What was the other?" and to this Devin remained silent.

"That is something a little more personal, but I'll say this. Even just a few kind words said in passing can make a person move away from a cliff. Now, anyone else have anything to ask?" Devin said, controlling the flow of the conversation. I had seen my father and his business associates do the same thing when a topic that hurt their standing was brought up, but I let it slide. He had come here willingly after all, so there was no expectation for him to divulge all his secrets.

Next to speak up was Yang. She glared intensely at him and asked, no demanded, "Why did my mom leave me? And how do you know?" she asked with anger in her eyes. Devin closed his eyes and replied, but not with her answer, "I've been down this road too. Looking for those who have abandoned you to make them tell you why. To get retribution for the years lost thinking about them. I learned however, when I found my father, that some people are better off fading from our thought as they don't matter. Family is those who love you and those with whom you have bonds, not blood. Are you sure you want to know about your mom?" Devin asked after his story. Yang looked down in thought, while mine were jumbled. Devin had been left by his dad? Or had he been adopted? It feels like the more I learn about Devin, the more questions I have.

Devin looked over to Blake and spoke after a few moments of silence, "Do you have anything to ask?" After staring at him for the whole time he talked with Yang, she talked, "Why do you fight the way you do? Why do you purposefully miss attacks and dance around you opponent when you can finish them off easily?" Devin answered by taking out a strange device. It looked like a scroll that couldn't collapse and it also seemed to have glass instead of a holographic projector. It must have been some sort of a proto-scroll. "Follow me, I need to talk to Glynda to answer you," Devin said and began to leave the room. We all sat down our dishes and began to follow him out the door.

We walked behind Devin through the hallways until we came to a red door. Devin knocked on it, and Ms. Goodwitch's voice came through, "Come in," so we all walked in the room. The room was very bare. The walls were a cream color, there was a single desk with one chair for Ms. Goodwitch and four in front of it. The floor was wood that had a light tint to it. "Glynda, I was wondering if we can use the combat training ring? We were hoping to spar in a controlled environment," Devin said, and Ms. Goodwitch seemed surprised. She stood from her chair and walked to us, "First of all, you need to address me as Ms. Goodwitch. Second, I will allow you to use the ring, with supervision," she said, and motioned for us to follow, so we did, with Devin again in front of us.

We followed Goodwitch for a while, before we stopped. I looked to Goodwitch and she was typing on her scroll. After a few seconds she collapsed her scroll, and turned to us. "Here is the combat room. Use it to the discretion of Professor Ozpin, as he is who I called in to watch you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have paperwork to do," Ms. Goodwitch said and she left.

Devin cleared his throat to get our attention, and we looked to him, "Let's get everything set up, shall we?" he asked us, and we nodded. "Heck yeah! I'm ready to see just how you do what you do Devin!" Yang said as we walked in the room. Devin lead us to the ring and we stood there to wait for Ozpin. "So Blake, why did you want to know how I fight?" Devin asked Blake, and she jumped a bit before she responded, "I just want to know how I can mesh better with other people from different teams in case we go on missions together," Blake said, and then went silent. Huh, so she wanted to fit in better. That I could understand.

After a few minutes of waiting, the door opened up and in walked Ozpin. He had his mug in one hand and cane in another. His eyes swept the room as he walked up to us. "So Ms. Goodwitch has told me that you children want to use this room for sparring, correct?" he asked us, but was looking at Devin. We looked to Devin for his answer, but saw something that concerned me. Devin had on a frown with squinted eyes furrowed brows. He seemed angry. "Yes. That's correct. If that is OK with you. Ruby, will you help me demonstrate my fighting style?" he said, answering Ozpin's question and giving his own to Ruby. Said reaper's eyes lit up, and she nodded excitedly. The both of them took opposite sides of the arena, but before they could start, Devin held up his proto-scroll. Ozpin stood next to Yang, Blake, and myself as we watched the fight about to happen.

"Weiss, would you like to hear a slow or fast song?" Devin asked me. I was stumped for a moment. What did music have to do with fighting? Well, I had better answer him to see just why he does what he does, "I think a slow one would be nice. Something with a piano," I said. I saw Blake giving me a deadpan stare and shaking her head out of the corner of my eye. I huffed and turned my nose up to her. I had great taste in music, thank you very much. "Slow and piano it is," Devin said after messing with his device. He pressed one final time and a beautiful piece of music began to flow from the proto-scroll.

 **(Begin Playing:** _ **The Sound of Silence by Disturbed)**_

Ruby pulled out her scythe, which I didn't see her grab, and put it in a readied position, while Devin just leveled his hands in front of his face, palms flat out towards his opponent. Ruby ran at him with her scythe slung being her. Devin pivoted his right foot backwards and wives his left palm on front of his body and pulled his right back. Once Ruby was in range of him, she swung and Devin slowly moved out of the way. He spun around gracefully and repositioned himself to intercept her attacks.

Ruby pouted, and she readied her scythe once again, but this time she had it to her left side. She began to run at him, but this time she used her semblance to enhance her speed. I heard a few gunshots go off, and then she was behind Devin, but something else had gained my attention. The lyrics of the song had captivated me.

 _And in the naked light I saw  
Ten thousand people, maybe more  
People talking without speaking  
People hearing without listening  
People writing songs that voices never share  
And no one dared  
Disturb the sound of silence_

That was something I could empathize with. I knew how much silence could say. I could still remember the stiff silence of the day my father, Jacques, told my mother, Crystal, that the only reason he married her was for the family name. All the days where even just seeing each other would send them both into silent matches of glares and contempt. The more I listened, the more memories were dug up that I would have rather left behind.

 _Fools, said I, you do not know  
Silence like a cancer grows  
Hear my words that I might teach you  
Take my arms that I might reach you  
But my words, like silent raindrops fell  
And echoed in the wells of silence_

Memories of the nights I spent alone in my room, the days when no one came for my concerts, and the times when I would catch mom drinking resurfaced, and I had to blink away tears. Even though those were the reasons that had made me want to become a huntress, it didn't mean that I wanted to remember them. Each and everyone brought with it a well of emotions that threatened to swallow me if I wasn't careful. The lyrics were sung in such a hauntingly beautiful way that it seemed that the vocalist was speaking directly to me.

 _And the people bowed and prayed  
To the neon god they made  
And the sign flashed out its warning  
In the words that it was forming  
And the sign said, the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls  
And tenement halls  
And whispered in the sounds of silence_

The song tapered off from there, and I had my eyes closed as I was reminiscing. I was lost in memories, both good and bad. I remembered the times Winter had consoled me, when Klein had talked to me, and the time my mother had told me that no matter what happened between her and dad, she would love me. I smiled lightly, happy that I could remember the good from the bad.

"WEISS!" I heard Ruby yell, and I looked up to see a red dust crystal flying towards me. I didn't have any time to react as it exploded and the heat hit me.

 **Now, a few things I want to explain here, as I know some of you may be confused. When Yang asks Devin about her mom, and Devin tells her the story, Yang completely drops the topic. The reason being that half of her life goal has been challenged in a way that it hasn't before. It has made her reconsider a lot about herself and her actions. Also, the final paragraph is jarring as it is a stark transition from the introspective moment to one of action without any warning. The reason for this is that is how Weiss would see it. One second she is remembering some memories, and the next a dust crystal explodes in her face. Jarring, but for the right reasons.**


	12. Updates and Questions

**Updates and Questions**

 **So here we are, in a new year full of new resolutions we will all break within the week. And going with that, I wanted to talk about the story for minute. So for the past two months or so, I've been uploading infrequently and without a schedule so that I could enjoy the holidays with family. Well, now that it's new years, I can finally get back to putting out a new chapter every week, starting next Monday. Also, as the year had rolled to a close, I found myself looking back at the beginning of my story, and realizing how crazy it is that people actually read it. My story started out as a joke between a friend of mine and myself, one that I ended up running with. What was once a funny one shot chapter turned into a hobby of mine that I can't seem to drop. So with that in mind, what I've learned from this is that I need to focus a bit more on actually making this a cohesive and enjoyable story, and that is where you, the reader comes in. I want help to make this story good (not great because I'm a mediocre writer), and to do that I need to ask you a few questions.**

 **Firstly, what do you like about this story, and what has kept you reading it?**

 **Secondly, is there anything in the story that feels off or unbalanced?**

 **And lastly, what do you think this story would benefit from and why?**

 **Thank you to everyone who read this and left me a review with your answers. Have a great day and Happy New Year!**


	13. Chapter 12: Even More Fairy Tales?

**Hey there guys. What's up? Wow was that a long week or what? It seemed to last A MONTH AND A HALF. Anyways, here's that new chapter I promised you, right after our comments:**

 **GamehunterMC: Oh yeah, Ice Queen is gonna be fired up about this incident**

 **bwburke94: I've come to see you once again!**

 **GamehunterMC: Thank you for your kind words and I am terribly sorry about the extended wait.**

 **A Change in Perspective**

 **Chapter 12: Even More Fairy Tales?**

Everything was coming along perfectly. I had been able to provoke the right questions from the girls, and had even been able to show off my skills. That should hopefully help them to trust me more and be more open with me. On top of that, my fight with Ruby was progressing quite nicely. I dodged and danced around Ruby's attacks while throwing out palm strikes intermittently.

As the pacing of the song began to speed up, so did I. As the song came to an end, I enacted my plan to win the fight. As Ruby swung a tight and short swing of her scythe, I sidestepped the attack, and struck with a fist to her face. She was stunned by the force of the attack and the sudden change of fighting tactics. While she was recovering I followed up with a jab at her midsection, and a right hook to her jaw, sending her tumbling to the ground. I had won the fight without once being touched. Ruby began to pick herself up as the song came to and end. She had just gotten herself to a sitting position when the sound of shattering glass filled the room and a red object flew through the air towards our audience. Ruby saw the object was heading towards one person in particular, Weiss. Ruby yelled out her name as she had her eyes closed. Weiss' eyes snapped open to see the object, which I recognized as burn dust, hurtling towards her.

I weighed my options quickly. I could try to take off my weights for extra speed, but the time it would take to remove them would be counterproductive. So I instead began to run towards her, intent on moving her out of the way, but before I could even take three steps the dust crystal was almost upon her. My breath hitched in my chest and my heart beat sped up. I couldn't stop to think of what this feeling was, I had to save Weiss!

I judged the distance from me to Weiss, and I realized that I wouldn't reach her in time. Logically I should stop so that I wouldn't get caught in the blast as well, but I kept moving. I reached the edge of the stage and the dust was right in front of her face. My eyes widened, and at the moment the dust was going to hit her, something inside if me clicked. That missing piece of myself that I had felt since coming here was filled. I felt my aura surge and I flung out my hand. The room became dim, and a wall of blackness erected itself in front of Weiss a fraction of a second before it could hit her. The dust exploded as it hit the wall, and the flames spread out around the wall, but they didn't get passed it.

"WEISS!" Ruby yelled again from behind me and ran to her along with the rest if her team and Ozpin while I stood in place, staring at my hand. What had just happened? How had I been able to do that without a semblance?

Shaking the question from my mind, I looked upwards from the trajectory that the dust crystal entered the area, and saw a broken window. Even though I knew that leaving the combat room would give me the best chance of finding any kind of evidence about what had happened here, I stayed and began to move to Weiss.

I walked closer to her, and as I did, the wall of darkness began to melt away, slowly moving away from Weiss. I stopped near Weiss and stared at her. She was talking to her team who seemed to be making sure she was okay. Looking over her I didn't see any obvious signs of injury, and even her clothing seemed fine. Ozpin helped her to stand up and told her to go to the infirmary so she could be checked for any injuries. Weiss looked to Ozpin and asked him, "What was that wall? Did you do something Headmaster?" Ozpin smirked lightly and pointed to me with his cane. "I believe you have this young man to thank for that, Miss Schnee," he said. Weiss and her team looked over to me.

She looked sheepish before she spoke, "Is, is that true Devin? Did you do that?" she asked, her tone sounding hopeful. I gazed at my hand, trying to understand what had happened. If that was me, how had I been able to do that. I had specifically asked for no semblance because of this reason. "I think so, Weiss. I don't know how, but I think it was me," I told her. She smiled and thanked me. I nodded in response and told the team we should head to the infirmary.

After excusing ourselves from Ozpin, who had a look of deep and intense thought, we began to navigate the hallway, looking for the room. After just a few doors, we found it and knocked. A crash sounded from inside the room and a rushed female voice said, "I, I'll be with you in a moment!", and then shuffling and metal clanging happened inside of the infirmary before the door was opened. It opened to reveal a short rabbit faunus woman with disheveled chestnut hair and brown clothing. She wore a long sleeved turtleneck and oversized pants that fell over black sneakers. She was panting and seemed out of breath as she greeted us, "Well hello there students, my name is Professor Grove. What brings you here today?" she asked in a cheery tone with a small smile.

I gestured to our resident Schnee and told her of what transpired in the combat room. "Oh that seems simply terrible. Here, come in and sit down and I will run a few simple tests to make sure you were not hurt," Professor Grove said to Weiss and she ushered us into her room. Walking in to the room, the first thing you would notice is the extreme amount of plaques and certifications littering the far wall. Just reading a few of them gave me the impression that Grove was no high school nurse. No, she was almost a surgeon with all of her achievements: Faunus Specialty License; Human Specialty License; Ear, Nose, and Throat Certification; Ophthalmology Certification; Pneumology Certification; and Orthopaedist Certification just to name a few. I guess Beacon doesn't settle for second best when it comes to professors.

Looking past her many achievements, the room was a light beige color. It had a set of four seats next to the wall with the door and a small patients table in the center of the room. The only other thing in the room was a small lamp and a desk where a monitor and swivel chair sat. To the back of the room was a door that led into, presumably, Grove's office as she entered that room as soon as we had all sat down and had come back with a clipboard, a stethoscope, and a pair of reading glasses.

Grove flipped through the pages for a moment as we all sat slightly awkwardly, waiting for someone to say something. Grove moved to sit at her swivel chair and began speaking to Weiss. "It says in my here that you have a food allergy to both raspberries and chillberries. Is that correct and do you have any other allergies that I need to know of?" Grove asked Weiss. "Yes, I am allergic to both raspberries and chillberries and no I do not have any other allergies that I know of," Weiss responded and Grove nodded her head and wrote something down on a paper in her clipboard.

Professor Grove stood up and put on her stethoscope. She moves behind Weiss and had her breathe in deeply a few times while Grove listened to her lungs. After that, she opened a drawer in her desk and pulled out an otoscope. She looked in both of Weiss ears and her throat. Once she was done with that, Grove had Weiss stand up and do some basic stretches. Weiss touched her toes, raised her arms above her head, and stretched her shoulders. With all of Grove's tests done, she wrote again in her paper and cleared Weiss of any ailments. Team RWBY and I thanked her and as we left to leave, Grove stopped me.

"Mr. Ash, we don't have a physical for you here in our records. I will need you to stop in sometime before the end of the month to have one taken," she told me. I nodded and agreed to come in, but something was wrong. Why would a school who needs a physical done wait two months to ask me to take it? They wouldn't. Something was off, and I wanted to know what was going on. After our short exchange, I walked team RWBY back to their dorm.

We exchanged a few words and began to go our separate ways when I realized something. "Hey Weiss, you never did get to ask me a question. Is there anything you want to know?" I asked Weiss after realizing that we had never gotten around to her question. She thought for a few seconds before her eyes lit up and she looked me in mine, "Why are you so strong? You whole team is so much stronger than everyone else in school, but you are still first years like us. How did you become so strong?"

Strength. That was something I had. How I had gotten it was no mystery. Months of working myself to the bone, fighting to hone my skills as far as possible, and without aura on top of that. How was an easy question to answer. It was why that had me pause. Why had I decided that we needed to fight? Sure we got weapons and powers from those two beings before coming to Remnant, but why did I think we had to fight to make a difference. Thinking back, I hadn't asked Steven, Mark, or James what they had wanted. I had selfishly pushed my own agenda onto them. Had I done what I criticized Ozpin for?

"Devin, are you ok?" Weiss asked me. Her voice broke me out of my thoughts and I looked at her. "Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking about something." Yang popped an eyebrow and asked, "You sure, Devin? You were spacing out pretty hard. Anything going on that we need to know about?" Yang crossed her arms and gave me a questioning look. "Yeah, if something is wrong we can help," Ruby chimed in with Blake nodding her head in confirmation. I shook my head and gave out a fake chuckle and a small smile. "Nah, I'm fine. To answer you question Weiss, strength is a relative idea. Is strength the amount of muscles you have, or the knowledge you have attained? Whatever makes you feel powerful is your own strength, so use that to motivate you and not what someone else believes is strength." Weiss nodded her head and thanked me before leaving into her room with her team.

After parting with the girls, I left to get back to my dorm. Walking past the few stragglers left in the hallways I came to my room and walked in. James was fiddling with our computer, Mark had in his headphones, and Steven was on his scroll. James saw me and gave a small wave if his hand, not looking away from the laptop. Steven said a simple "hello", and Mark had yet to even notice me.

I swallowed a limp that had appeared in my throat and tried to form the words I wanted to say, but I couldn't force myself to say anything. I wanted to bring up when we had first arrived here, but my body refused to allow me the ability to speak. _"What do I even say? 'I'm sorry for forcing you to follow what I wanted even though it could kill you. So now that I thought about it, did you want to do this?' Why am I so pathetic that I can't even talk to my own team?"_

" _Devin, you need to stop thinking and just talk. Talk to your friends and they will understand,"_ Shukaku said after my inner dilemma. I closed my eyes and built up what I was going to say. I found a good way to start off the conversation when my scroll beeped. I grabbed it from my bed and looked at the alert. It was from Ozpin. He was asking me to come speak with him and that it was urgent. I cleared my throat and spoke to my team, "Ozpin has asked me to come to his office and that it is urgent. I'll be back as soon as I can." James and Steven both waved bye and Mark was still dead to the world with his music.

I left my room with nothing having been accomplished. I started my trek towards the elevator that lead to Ozpin's office. Once I had reached it I pushed the button that lead to the highest floor in Beacon and waited for the elevator to reach it. The elevator dinged when it reached the top floor and opened to reveal Ozpin's office. The headmaster himself was looking out one of the giant glass windows that was in the room.

I walked forward into the room and spoke, "You wanted to see me Headmaster?" I asked, and he turned to face me. He smiled lightly and replied, "Yes, I did. There are a few things I would like to discuss with you. Things regarding what happened earlier today," he said as he moved away from the window and towards his desk. I narrowed my eyes in thought before speaking, "Is there something you need to ask of me?"

Ozpin turned and said only six words, "Do you believe in fairy tales?"

 **My goodness. What could Ozpin be referring to? It must be a giant mystery. Oh well, find out next time, on the adventures of explosive teenagers! Also like comment and subscribe so we can get that 1 million play button! Wait, this isn't YouTube? And no matter how many people read this I don't get paid? Well, fuck.**


	14. Chapter 14

**AN APOLOGY AND AN OVERDUE UPDATE**

So, Uh. Hi guys. It has been a while hasn't it. Over a year in fact. Firstly, I want to apologize to anyone who wanted to read this story. I left this on a cliffhanger with full intent to finish it. And then life happened. Money problems, depression, and college. So, ALL fun things, amirite? But enough excuses. If you're reading this then you want to know of the future of the story. I'm sorry to say there isn't one. Its over. Imma be straight with you guys, it sucks. It is terrible. It was just a way for me to write a shitty fanfic. So, I've decided to stop the story. I really am sorry about this, but I have no passion for this story. HOWEVER, I haven't stopped writing entirely. I've been toiling with an idea for weeks since the end of volume 6. And now I've finally gotten a basic script made, and finished the first chapter, which will be posted right after this. So, if you care to read it, it should be up now. If not however, I completely understand. Either way, if the comments demand a timeline for this story, I won't have a problem giving this story one more update for that. With that out of the way, this has been Mr. Egg, signing off.

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P.S. I swear I won't kill the next story on a cliffhanger, scouts honor


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